The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Bought by Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,565 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up about 2.3% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,740,875,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 105,205.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,994,957 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,472,867,000 after acquiring an additional 10,984,516 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,703,690,000. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 30,994.4% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,413,234 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $241,323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,405,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at about $563,524,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HD shares. HSBC lowered shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho initiated coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer downgraded Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.76.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of HD traded down $2.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $383.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,497,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,130,983. The company has a 50 day moving average of $367.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $334.18. 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 firm has a market cap of $380.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.99. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.