Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 139,120 Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 37.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 230,365 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after selling 139,120 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $19,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BBY. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,164,953 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $636,840,000 after acquiring an additional 241,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,852,980 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $499,954,000 after purchasing an additional 120,185 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,440,215 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $355,374,000 after purchasing an additional 62,452 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,388,151 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $143,396,000 after purchasing an additional 44,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Best Buy by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,160,614 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $119,892,000 after buying an additional 61,119 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Best Buy from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Best Buy from $109.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Best Buy from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.46, for a total value of $6,049,258.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 92,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,052,442.20. The trade was a 42.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Best Buy Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE BBY opened at $84.81 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.03. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a one year low of $69.29 and a one year high of $103.71. The company has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The technology retailer reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $9.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.63 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Best Buy’s payout ratio is currently 64.27%.

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.