CENTRAL TRUST Co Reduces Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 86,761 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 30,265 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $33,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 10.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 202,002 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $81,851,000 after purchasing an additional 13,151 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 21.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,823 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,842,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 52.1% in the third quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 3.6% during the third quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 2,458 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HD. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of HD stock opened at $409.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $406.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $407.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $392.76.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.81 EPS. On average, 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 announced 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. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

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.