VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires New Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 201,100 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $15,259,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Best Buy by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,436 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,210,000 after buying an additional 4,701 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Best Buy by 4.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,560 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in Best Buy by 127.7% during the second quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 12,997 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 7,288 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Best Buy by 155.4% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 160,568 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $10,779,000 after acquiring an additional 97,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Best Buy by 32.0% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 313,584 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $21,051,000 after acquiring an additional 76,102 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BBY. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Best Buy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price objective on Best Buy from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Best Buy from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Best Buy from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Best Buy from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Best Buy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Richard Schulze sold 224,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total transaction of $17,549,460.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 10,430,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $814,656,101.60. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 500,000 shares of company stock worth $39,065,226 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.1%

Best Buy stock opened at $90.35 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.10 and a 52 week high of $91.26. The company has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.21.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The technology retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.08. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 48.14%. The company had revenue of $9.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Best Buy’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.700-6.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.81 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.89%.

Best Buy Profile

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.