Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 16,487 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lessened its position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 820,805 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 16,487 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Best Buy worth $70,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its position in Best Buy by 228.7% in the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 22,625 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $1,941,000 after buying an additional 15,741 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,692,118 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $316,784,000 after purchasing an additional 629,180 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,982,608 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $1,971,908,000 after purchasing an additional 191,161 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new position in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth about $3,293,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in Best Buy in the 4th quarter worth about $9,073,000. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a report on Monday, April 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.28.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In related news, CEO Corie S. Barry acquired 13,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.92 per share, with a total value of $984,420.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 378,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,620,637.60. The trade was a 3.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total value of $355,476.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,048. This represents a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213 over the last three months. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Best Buy Price Performance

NYSE:BBY traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $66.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,449,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,314,305. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a one year low of $54.99 and a one year high of $103.71.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.70%. This is a boost from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy's dividend payout ratio is 88.99%.

Best Buy 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.