Sterling Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Sterling Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Free Report) by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,877 shares of the technology retailer's stock after selling 5,992 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Best Buy were worth $1,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BBY. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 228.7% in the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 22,625 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 15,741 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Best Buy by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,692,118 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $316,784,000 after purchasing an additional 629,180 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 0.8% in 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 buying an additional 191,161 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,293,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,073,000. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry purchased 13,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.92 per share, with a total value of $984,420.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 378,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,620,637.60. This represents a 3.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 51,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total transaction of $3,784,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,144,515.20. The trade was a 47.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Best Buy from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.28.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of BBY stock traded up $2.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.97. 3,861,900 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,266,844. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.99 and a 12-month high of $103.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.42. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $74.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.17.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. The company had revenue of $13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a $0.95 dividend. This is a boost from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.99%.

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.