Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Shares Down 0.7%

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s share price traded down 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $326.90 and last traded at $330.63. 950,396 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 3,329,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $333.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $364.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $340.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,765,587 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,117,016,000 after buying an additional 992,444 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,777 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,540,197,000 after buying an additional 347,614 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $4,311,070,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 153,141 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,802,085 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,050,363,000 after purchasing an additional 195,670 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.