Vestor Capital LLC Sells 17,052 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Vestor Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 52.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,423 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 17,052 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Home Depot by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 4,653 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Live Oak Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,915 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE HD opened at $352.12 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $349.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $393.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.66.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $2.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on HD. KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.50.

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.