Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Sells 200 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA reduced its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,168 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HD. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 347,614 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,730,889,000 after purchasing an additional 153,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,802,085 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,050,363,000 after purchasing an additional 195,670 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 38.4% during the fourth 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. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE HD traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $346.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,401,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,325,389. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $359.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $343.54. The company has a market cap of $343.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released 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. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Zelman & Associates raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.