Short Interest in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Grows By 20.4%

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 19,181,671 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the December 15th total of 15,930,297 shares. Currently, 9.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,388,281 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,388,281 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 9.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Best Buy from $82.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Best Buy from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Best Buy from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Best Buy news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 374,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.24, for a total value of $31,145,411.36. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 11,786,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,141,888.96. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 709,157 shares of company stock valued at $59,379,260 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Best Buy by 69.3% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 337 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:BBY opened at $65.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.41. Best Buy has a 12 month low of $54.99 and a 12 month high of $91.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The technology retailer reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.57 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 50.02% and a net margin of 1.54%.The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Best Buy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.250-6.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Best Buy will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is 125.83%.

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.