Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.74, but opened at $79.44. Best Buy shares last traded at $75.12, with a volume of 3,581,562 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on BBY. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Friday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.44.

Best Buy Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $16.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.18. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.96%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.46, for a total transaction of $6,049,258.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,070 shares in the company, valued at $8,052,442.20. This represents a 42.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BBY. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Best Buy by 9.1% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,359 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Best Buy by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,271 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the 3rd quarter valued at $200,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Best Buy by 15.3% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 451,609 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $46,651,000 after acquiring an additional 59,883 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Best Buy Company Profile

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.