Best Buy Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BBY)

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

Insider Activity

In other Best Buy news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total value of $131,659.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,294. The trade was a 7.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 224,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $17,549,460.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 10,430,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $814,656,101.60. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,002,134 shares of company stock valued at $77,283,527 over the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Best Buy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Best Buy Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of NYSE BBY traded up $2.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.97. 3,625,789 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,489,515. Best Buy has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $84.99. The firm has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The technology retailer reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $8.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Best Buy’s quarterly revenue 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. As a group, analysts expect that Best Buy will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 18th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 18th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BBY. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $60.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Best Buy from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.