Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BBY. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush raised their target price on Best Buy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Best Buy from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.50.

Best Buy Stock Up 0.4%

Best Buy stock opened at $85.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Best Buy has a 52 week low of $55.10 and a 52 week high of $87.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.57. The firm has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.30.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The technology retailer reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.05. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 48.70%. The company had revenue of $8.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Best Buy will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $131,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,294. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 500,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.12, for a total transaction of $38,086,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 10,930,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $832,036,206.32. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,002,134 shares of company stock worth $77,283,527 over the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBY. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Best Buy during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Best Buy during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. increased its holdings in Best Buy by 239.2% during the 4th quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 441 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

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.