Investors Purchase Large Volume of Best Buy Call Options (NYSE:BBY)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY – Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 67,540 call options on the company. This is an increase of 286% compared to the average volume of 17,478 call options.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Best Buy stock opened at $98.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Best Buy has a twelve month low of $62.30 and a twelve month high of $103.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.32. The company has a market cap of $21.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.46.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Best Buy will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chairman now owns 14,911,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,319,073,501.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,319,073,501.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 600,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chairman now owns 14,002,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,311,891.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,383,370 shares of company stock valued at $122,233,276. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 490,801 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 235,478 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Best Buy by 55.7% during the second 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 buying an additional 1,024,824 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Best Buy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $165,164,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Best Buy during the second quarter worth $121,325,000. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $114.00 target price (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Best Buy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Best Buy from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Best Buy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.56.

Read Our Latest Analysis on BBY

About Best Buy

(Get Free Report)

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.

Featured Articles