Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Best Buy from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target 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. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price objective on Best Buy from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.89.

Best Buy Price Performance

Best Buy stock opened at $67.20 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $54.99 and a 52-week high of $91.68. The firm has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.67.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The technology retailer reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earnings per share. Best Buy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.250-6.350 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Best Buy will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 74,553 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.31, for a total transaction of $6,285,563.43. Following the sale, the chairman owned 11,451,911 shares in the company, valued at $965,510,616.41. This trade represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,534,993 shares of company stock worth $126,626,855 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Best Buy by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 337 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Best Buy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Best Buy in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Best Buy Company Profile

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.