Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $75.73, but opened at $66.30. Best Buy shares last traded at $63.79, with a volume of 1,537,730 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Best Buy from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on shares of Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Best Buy from $102.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Best Buy in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.22.

Best Buy Stock Down 14.9 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $81.98 and its 200 day moving average is $87.76. The stock has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share 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%. The business had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.99%.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry bought 13,500 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.92 per share, with a total value of $984,420.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 378,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,620,637.60. This trade represents a 3.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total value of $214,390.15. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,552,603.15. This represents a 12.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213 over the last three months. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 7.2% in the first quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 72,294 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $5,322,000 after buying an additional 4,884 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Best Buy by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 721 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 144.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,683 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354 shares in the last quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,777,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 172,806 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $14,827,000 after purchasing an additional 57,520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

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.