Traders Buy Large Volume of Best Buy Call Options (NYSE:BBY)

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 10,054 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 30% compared to the average volume of 7,752 call options.

Best Buy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBY traded up $2.55 on Friday, reaching $82.54. 1,600,006 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,432,044. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.68 and a 200-day moving average of $66.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.30. Best Buy has a 1-year low of $55.10 and a 1-year high of $84.99.

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

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Best Buy’s payout ratio is 71.11%.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 224,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total transaction of $17,549,460.50. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 10,430,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,656,101.60. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $131,659.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 21,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,294. This represents a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,002,134 shares of company stock valued at $77,283,527. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Best Buy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BBY. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. increased its position in Best Buy by 239.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BBY. Wedbush increased their price objective on Best Buy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Best Buy from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $65.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.50.

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.