Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Lowers Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. trimmed its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 40,419 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,025 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up about 1.5% of Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $14,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caliber Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 6.6% in the third quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the third quarter worth about $521,000. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 28,904 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 3,358 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter worth approximately $718,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value 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. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on 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 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. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HD shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE HD traded down $6.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $332.86. 1,956,903 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,332,910. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $366.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $340.51. The company has a market cap of $329.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. 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 2.70%. Home Depot’s dividend 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.