Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,041 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises 0.5% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Home Depot by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,737,490 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,918,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,402 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,730,889,000 after acquiring an additional 153,141 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth about $3,740,875,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 105,205.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,994,957 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,472,867,000 after acquiring an additional 10,984,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,729,735 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,211,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,660 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.35.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.4 %

HD stock opened at $337.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $369.56 and a 200 day moving average of $338.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,339.65%. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

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.