Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Shares Bought by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 595,082 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Best Buy were worth $50,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,377,763 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $284,712,000 after purchasing an additional 490,801 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Best Buy by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,055,743 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $257,569,000 after acquiring an additional 235,478 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Best Buy by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,863,291 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $241,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,824 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $121,325,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 4,337.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,099,495 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $92,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on BBY. Citigroup upped their price target on Best Buy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Best Buy from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Best Buy from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $106.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total value of $61,154,874.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,911,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,319,073,501.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total value of $61,154,874.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,911,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,319,073,501.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $290,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,210,276.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,383,370 shares of company stock valued at $122,233,276. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of BBY stock opened at $97.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $20.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.30 and a 12 month high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.18. Best Buy had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 2.96%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

About Best Buy

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.