Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,730 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 626 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Best Buy by 190.9% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 320 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 632.1% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 50.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 493 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Best Buy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.46, for a total value of $6,049,258.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,052,442.20. This represents a 42.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Best Buy from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Best Buy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.72.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BBY opened at $81.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $87.31 and a 200 day moving average of $90.10. The firm has a market cap of $17.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.43. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a one year low of $69.29 and a one year high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The technology retailer reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $9.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.63 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. Best Buy’s payout ratio is currently 64.27%.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc engages in the retail of technology products in the United States, Canada, and international. Its stores provide computing and mobile phone products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness products, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products, as well as home theaters, which includes home theater accessories, soundbars, and televisions.