Short Interest in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Drops By 6.5%

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,720,000 shares, a decrease of 6.5% from the March 15th total of 15,740,000 shares. Approximately 7.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the business’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 transaction of $204,909.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,097,188.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Best Buy news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $324,991.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,119,601.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,394 shares of company stock valued at $4,206,247. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Best Buy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 25.4% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 7,037 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 1st quarter worth $8,676,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 36,900 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $3,027,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Best Buy by 5.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,984 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $7,381,000 after buying an additional 4,420 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Best Buy by 900.0% during the first quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Best Buy Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:BBY traded down $0.60 on Tuesday, hitting $75.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,169,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,017,853. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Best Buy has a 52 week low of $62.30 and a 52 week high of $86.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $77.91 and its 200 day moving average is $73.77. The company has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.49.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.58 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Best Buy will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BBY. UBS Group raised their price objective on Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $68.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.60.

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.