HS Management Partners LLC Sells 102,885 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

HS Management Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 528,875 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 102,885 shares during the period. Best Buy accounts for 3.1% of HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $45,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Best Buy by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,538 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in Best Buy by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 861 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Best Buy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,904 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $2,566,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC increased its position in Best Buy by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in Best Buy by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BBY. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Best Buy from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.50.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of BBY opened at $75.36 on Thursday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.29 and a 1 year high of $103.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.97 and a 200-day moving average of $90.51.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.18. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. The company had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.99%.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

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

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.