Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Price Target Cut to $75.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the technology retailer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on BBY. Loop Capital reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.72.

Best Buy Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE:BBY opened at $71.53 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.88 and a 200 day moving average of $80.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.27. Best Buy has a 52 week low of $54.99 and a 52 week high of $103.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 45.93%. The business had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Best Buy will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.95 dividend. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.99%.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,951 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total transaction of $214,390.15. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,552,603.15. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 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 $4,144,515.20. This trade represents a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 108.5% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 342 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 971.9% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 343 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Best Buy by 186.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 373 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Best Buy Company 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.