Simmons Bank Has $10.79 Million Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Simmons Bank grew its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,137 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the quarter. Home Depot accounts for about 0.9% of Simmons Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $10,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 12,647.4% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 5,525,791 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,506,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207,388 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot during the 3rd quarter valued at $207,210,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Home Depot by 20.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,468,902 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $746,003,000 after buying an additional 421,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $4,540,197,000 after buying an additional 347,614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.6 %

Home Depot stock traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $338.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,514,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,323,432. The stock has a market cap of $335.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $360.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $343.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 business earned $3.30 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.19.

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.