Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Best Buy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.38.

Best Buy Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE BBY traded down $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $78.08. 3,027,512 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,593,711. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 1.04. Best Buy has a 52-week low of $54.99 and a 52-week high of $95.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.25.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The technology retailer reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. Best Buy had a return on equity of 47.32% and a net margin of 1.87%.The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Best Buy’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Best Buy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.300 EPS. Analysts forecast that Best Buy will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 18th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.76, for a total transaction of $154,901.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 20,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,545,332.32. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 74,553 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.31, for a total transaction of $6,285,563.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 11,451,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $965,510,616.41. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,736,826 shares of company stock worth $141,568,327 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy during the third quarter valued at $224,000. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its position in Best Buy by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 5,301 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Best Buy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $397,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

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.