Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New $229,000 Investment in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,924 shares of the technology retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 549.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 90.6% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 385 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 56.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 81.9% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE BBY traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $76.15. 1,368,396 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,634,290. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.89. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.30 and a 12 month 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 capitalization of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.49.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.45% and a net margin of 2.86%. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. Best Buy’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. This is a boost from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Best Buy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet raised Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Best Buy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Corie S. Barry sold 366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $27,728.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 431,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,670,060.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.