The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Acquired by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 123,767 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up approximately 1.7% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $42,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HD traded down $2.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $383.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,841,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,137,208. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $367.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $334.18. The firm has a market cap of $379.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.99.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HD. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.76.

Home Depot Company 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.