Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 21,258 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 21.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,431 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,258 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.05% of Best Buy worth $9,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Best Buy by 69.5% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 322 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Best Buy by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Best Buy by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Best Buy by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,839 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Avory & Company LLC increased its position in Best Buy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avory & Company LLC now owns 6,011 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $27,728.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,670,060.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $27,728.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,231 shares in the company, valued at $32,670,060.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $85,850,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 15,890,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,364,165,342.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,004,149 shares of company stock valued at $166,397,807. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Best Buy Price Performance

NYSE:BBY traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $82.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,305,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,151,154. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.89. The company has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.30 and a twelve month high of $93.72.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The technology retailer reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.12. Best Buy had a return on equity of 47.56% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $8.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 20th. Best Buy’s payout ratio is 65.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Best Buy in a report on Thursday, May 30th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Best Buy from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on Best Buy from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.87.

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.