Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Raises Stock Position in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 595,082 shares of the technology retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.28% of Best Buy worth $50,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BBY. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in Best Buy during the 2nd quarter worth about $121,325,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Best Buy by 4,337.6% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,099,495 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $92,677,000 after buying an additional 1,074,718 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Best Buy by 55.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,863,291 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $241,347,000 after buying an additional 1,024,824 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Best Buy by 320.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 860,388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $67,352,000 after buying an additional 655,750 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Best Buy during the 1st quarter valued at $43,522,000. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Best Buy Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BBY opened at $97.30 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.46. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.30 and a 12-month high of $103.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $90.15 and a two-hundred day moving average 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 (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.18. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.26 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Best Buy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $86.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Best Buy from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $290,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,210,276.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.29, for a total value of $52,974,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,002,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,311,891.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $290,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,210,276.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,383,370 shares of company stock worth $122,233,276. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

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.