Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Buys 81,500 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 17,050.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 81,978 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 81,500 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $28,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HD. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $332.83 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $368.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $339.01. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm’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 company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Home Depot 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.