Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 11,700 Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,700 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $916,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BBY. Cerity Partners LLC increased 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 buying an additional 8,042 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at $317,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy in the third quarter valued at $831,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 35.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 94,282 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $6,550,000 after buying an additional 24,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 1,405.3% in the third quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 214,232 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $14,883,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of BBY opened at $75.23 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.08. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.30 and a 52-week high of $86.11. The firm has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. 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 (NYSE:BBY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.21. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.45% and a net margin of 2.86%. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. Best Buy’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. 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. 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. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 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 transaction of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $324,991.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,119,601.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the business’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 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. Insiders sold a total of 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900 in the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BBY shares. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.