Avanza Fonder AB Acquires Shares of 103,966 The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 103,966 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $40,442,000. Home Depot makes up 1.2% of Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter worth $41,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 136 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 111.3% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD opened at $409.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $406.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.81, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $406.51 and a 200 day moving average of $387.45.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Loop Capital raised Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

About Home Depot

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.