Financial Advocates Investment Management Lowers Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Financial Advocates Investment Management cut its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,891 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,342 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Finley Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HD shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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. Mizuho increased their price target on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $407.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $404.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $406.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $393.70. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month 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.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 yield of 2.21%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 61.14%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $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 quarter, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 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.