Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Trims Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp trimmed its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,455 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,925 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises about 2.4% of Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $34,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Home Depot by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,737,490 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,918,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,402 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Home Depot by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,730,889,000 after purchasing an additional 153,141 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $3,740,875,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 105,205.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,994,957 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,472,867,000 after purchasing an additional 10,984,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,729,735 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,211,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,660 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $335.36 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $367.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $339.21.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer lowered Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Zelman & Associates raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

About Home Depot

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.