State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Stock Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 106,211 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 4,451 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $8,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BBY. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Best Buy by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 103,459 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $8,100,000 after purchasing an additional 8,042 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth about $317,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the third quarter worth about $831,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Best Buy by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 94,282 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $6,550,000 after buying an additional 24,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 770,020 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $60,277,000 after purchasing an additional 85,286 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $27,728.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 431,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,670,060.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet upgraded Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Best Buy from $68.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.60.

Best Buy Price Performance

BBY traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.04. 2,125,216 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,975,439. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.30 and a 1 year high of $86.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $77.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.08. The company has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.49.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.08%.

Best Buy 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.