Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Acquires 2,295 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,668 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,295 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $28,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HD. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 205,954 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 8,762,735 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Home Depot by 1.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,515,343 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,931,328,000 after buying an additional 100,139 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Home Depot by 2.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,774,083 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,980,883,000 after buying an additional 138,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Home Depot by 7.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,643,176 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,598,316,000 after buying an additional 333,312 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HD. Daiwa America raised Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Telsey Advisory Group raised Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price for the company. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD stock opened at $428.67 on Tuesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $308.59 and a 52-week high of $430.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $425.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $404.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $369.82.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.14%.

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.