Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Best Buy (NYSE:BBY)

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 9,418 put options on the company. This is an increase of 40% compared to the average volume of 6,725 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Monday, August 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Best Buy in a report on Friday, August 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other news, Chairman Richard Schulze sold 224,705 shares of Best Buy 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 10,430,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,656,101.60. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 423,701 shares of company stock valued at $33,096,355. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BBY. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Best Buy by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,049 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,502 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Best Buy by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 56,957 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $4,322,000 after purchasing an additional 2,859 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Best Buy by 153.0% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 17,467 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after buying an additional 10,563 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Stock Performance

NYSE BBY traded up $2.48 on Monday, reaching $93.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,745,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,252,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.12. Best Buy has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $94.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.89. The stock has a market cap of $19.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.28.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The technology retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.08. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 48.14%. The business had revenue of $9.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.700-6.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Best Buy will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Best Buy’s payout ratio is currently 63.89%.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc is a specialty retailer of technology products and services operating under the Best Buy brand. The company sells consumer electronics, computers, mobile phones, appliances, entertainment products, smart-home equipment, and related accessories through its retail stores, websites, and other sales channels.

Best Buy also provides technology support, installation, repair, and consultation services through Geek Squad. Its offerings include assistance with device setup, home theater installation, computer and appliance support, and technology solutions for consumers and small businesses.