The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Stake Raised by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 67,654 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $26,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Home Depot by 10.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 171,005 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $69,340,000 after purchasing an additional 16,650 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in Home Depot by 17.8% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Home Depot in the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. Montis Financial LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 41.6% in the third quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 1,039 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank grew its position in Home Depot by 4.5% in the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 4,579 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,855,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE HD opened at $407.39 on Monday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. 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 stock has a market cap of $404.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $406.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $394.24.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

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 $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on HD shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.00.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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. Over the last 90 days, 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 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.