Aspire Growth Partners LLC Purchases New Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,934 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 228.7% in the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 22,625 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 15,741 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Best Buy by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,692,118 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $316,784,000 after acquiring an additional 629,180 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Best Buy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,982,608 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,971,908,000 after buying an additional 191,161 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at $3,293,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in Best Buy in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,073,000. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of BBY opened at $68.05 on Friday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.99 and a 52 week high of $103.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.11 and a 200-day moving average of $81.94.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.58%. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In related news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $226,844.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,370,051.22. The trade was a 14.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 51,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $3,784,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 55,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,144,515.20. The trade was a 47.73 % 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 worth $5,767,213 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.59% 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.