The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by Royal Fund Management LLC

Royal Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,573 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 295 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Home Depot by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,730,889,000 after acquiring an additional 153,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,802,085 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,050,363,000 after purchasing an additional 195,670 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 12,647.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,104,000 after buying an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,506,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,418,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,904,000 after purchasing an additional 346,641 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HD. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer cut Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE HD traded up $7.32 on Friday, reaching $342.85. 4,165,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,606,830. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The company has a market cap of $339.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $361.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Home Depot Profile

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States and internationally. It sells various building materials, home improvement products, lawn and garden products, and décor products, as well as facilities maintenance, repair, and operations products. The company also offers installation services for flooring, water heaters, bath, garage doors, cabinets, cabinet makeovers, countertops, sheds, furnaces and central air systems, and windows.