Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $916,000 in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,700 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $916,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 549.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 411 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 72.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,004 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the 3rd quarter valued at $80,000. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In other news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total transaction of $324,991.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,119,601.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $32,670,060.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $324,991.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,119,601.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,023 shares of company stock valued at $4,253,900 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BBY. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Best Buy from $68.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet raised Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Best Buy from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.60.

Best Buy Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:BBY opened at $75.23 on Friday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.30 and a 1 year high of $86.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.08.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.58 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.45% and a net margin of 2.86%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.08%.

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.