Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Raises Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,425 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HD. Hill Island Financial LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $362,000. Well Done LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 123,767 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $42,892,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,565 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,741,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 32,321 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $11,201,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction 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 $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.76.

Home Depot Price Performance

Home Depot stock traded down $2.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $383.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,258,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,142,955. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $380.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $367.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $334.18.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

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.