Blue Trust Inc. Grows Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,033 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,770 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $14,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,767,449,000 after purchasing an additional 433,126 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 2.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,426,649 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,819,679,000 after purchasing an additional 205,954 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 51,250.1% in the third 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 last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 10.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 795,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 5.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,030,483 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,253,952,000 after purchasing an additional 409,890 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:HD opened at $418.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $407.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $391.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $416.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 4.32 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 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

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 $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Telsey Advisory Group raised Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital raised Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Home Depot 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.