Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Buys 317 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,524 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HD. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $35,575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Home Depot during the 3rd quarter valued at about $336,231,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,516,827,000 after buying an additional 795,438 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 295.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $280,932,000 after buying an additional 518,054 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the second quarter worth about $159,365,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $409.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $406.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $386.78. The company has a market cap of $406.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.81 EPS. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Loop Capital upgraded Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.