Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $18.08 Million Stake in Best Buy Co., Inc. $BBY

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 1,731.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 270,097 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 255,349 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.13% of Best Buy worth $18,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BBY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Best Buy by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,947,415 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,810,904,000 after buying an additional 552,360 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Best Buy by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,631,429 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $927,753,000 after buying an additional 496,215 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Best Buy by 99.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,997,871 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $525,120,000 after buying an additional 3,496,254 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Best Buy by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,548,650 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $305,351,000 after acquiring an additional 621,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Best Buy by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,888,664 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $218,441,000 after acquiring an additional 150,871 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Best Buy from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group cut their target price on Best Buy from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 8,049 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total value of $515,296.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 102,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,572,869.38. The trade was a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 42,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total value of $2,744,473.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,491,294.76. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 77,247 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,353 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Best Buy

Here are the key news stories impacting Best Buy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend support: Best Buy’s long record of payouts (22 consecutive years of raises) and a ~6.1% yield are drawing income-focused buyers, reinforcing demand for the shares even as sales growth is soft. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Takeover rumors: Media and traders credited a sudden rally to speculation GameStop might be preparing an acquisition of Best Buy; this appears to be rumor-driven with little public evidence and could be temporary. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst clarification: The analyst whose note sparked the chatter says he did not intend to imply a GameStop takeover — underscoring that the move lacks confirmed strategic rationale and increasing the chance the bump is short-lived. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Several senior executives sold shares on March 23 (including CEO Corie Barry, CFO Matthew Bilunas, CAO Mathew Watson and other EVPs), collectively trimming individual holdings by roughly 7–13%. Large, clustered insider sales can be read as profit-taking and may weigh on sentiment. Example SEC filing for the CEO sale: Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operational caution: Recent quarter showed modest revenue decline y/y and management set FY27 EPS guidance of $6.30–$6.60 — decent earnings but revenue softness and mixed analyst targets leave upside limited absent a clear catalyst. Read More.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BBY opened at $63.18 on Friday. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.99 and a twelve month high of $84.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.69. The company has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The technology retailer reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.13. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 49.17%. The business had revenue of $13.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 24th. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.19%.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc is a leading North American consumer electronics retailer that sells a broad range of products including computers, mobile phones, televisions and home theater systems, major appliances, smart-home devices, gaming hardware and software, wearables and related accessories. The company operates through a mix of large-format stores, smaller specialty locations and an e-commerce platform, offering national and private-brand merchandise from major consumer-technology manufacturers as well as third-party sellers.

Beyond product retailing, Best Buy provides a suite of services aimed at installation, repair and ongoing technical support.