Mathew Watson Sells 3,298 Shares of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Stock

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $211,137.96. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 23,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,484,751.84. This represents a 12.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Best Buy Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE BBY opened at $61.72 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.83. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.99 and a 52-week high of $84.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.46.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The technology retailer reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.13. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 49.17%. The company had revenue of $13.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 24th. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.40%.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Best Buy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,255,320 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,623,409,000 after purchasing an additional 307,905 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Best Buy by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,631,429 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $927,753,000 after purchasing an additional 496,215 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,158,839 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $613,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160,968 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,452,642 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $498,805,000 after purchasing an additional 160,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,732,080 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $316,718,000 after purchasing an additional 271,988 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Best Buy this week:

• Negative Sentiment: CEO Corie S. Barry sold 42,869 shares at an average $64.02 (~$2.74M), reducing her ownership by 7.57%. CEO Sale SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 8,049 shares at $64.02 (~$515K), a 7.27% cut to her holdings. EVP Scarlett Sale SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 11,356 shares at $64.02 (~$727K), a 12.87% reduction in his position. CFO Sale SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 6,336 shares at $64.02 (~$406K), reducing ownership by ~7.4%. EVP Bonfig Sale SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,298 shares at $64.02 (~$211K), a 12.45% ownership cut. CAO Sale SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Todd G. Hartman sold 5,339 shares at $64.02 (~$342K), a 10.8% decrease in his holding. Todd Hartman Sale SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Yahoo Finance published a bearish take listing “3 reasons BBY is risky” and suggesting an alternative stock, amplifying short‑term investor concern after recent soft revenue and mixed guidance. 3 Reasons BBY is Risky and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Best Buy from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Best Buy from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. HSBC dropped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $96.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Best Buy from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.20.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc is a leading North American consumer electronics retailer that sells a broad range of products including computers, mobile phones, televisions and home theater systems, major appliances, smart-home devices, gaming hardware and software, wearables and related accessories. The company operates through a mix of large-format stores, smaller specialty locations and an e-commerce platform, offering national and private-brand merchandise from major consumer-technology manufacturers as well as third-party sellers.

Beyond product retailing, Best Buy provides a suite of services aimed at installation, repair and ongoing technical support.