Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Down 0.9% on Analyst Downgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s share price fell 0.9% during trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $420.00 to $415.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as low as $332.96 and last traded at $334.83. 4,525,522 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 3,539,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.93.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays raised Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

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 that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,311,070,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $3,472,867,000 after purchasing an additional 10,984,516 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,930,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 30,994.4% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,413,234 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $241,323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,405,473 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,450,798 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,928,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,762 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $331.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $369.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $339.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research 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 issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 59.60%.

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.