Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $75.73, but opened at $66.30. Best Buy shares last traded at $63.79, with a volume of 1,537,730 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BBY. Bank of America lowered their price target on Best Buy from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down from $93.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $105.00 target price on Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.28.

Best Buy Trading Down 5.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $80.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.88.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. This is a positive change from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Best Buy's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.99%.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 51,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $3,784,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 55,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,144,515.20. The trade was a 47.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $355,476.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,320 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,048. The trade was a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.59% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the third quarter worth approximately $292,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Best Buy by 107.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 29,172 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $3,014,000 after acquiring an additional 15,077 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 70.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 37,457 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $3,522,000 after purchasing an additional 15,461 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,689,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Best Buy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $378,000. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.