Forsta AP Fonden Cuts Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 272,900 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the quarter. Home Depot accounts for about 0.8% of Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $106,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $35,575,880,000 after buying an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $336,231,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 10.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,516,827,000 after purchasing an additional 795,438 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 295.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $280,932,000 after purchasing an additional 518,054 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,767,449,000 after purchasing an additional 433,126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $414.56 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.77 and a 52 week high of $439.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock has a market cap of $411.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $407.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $391.93.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.81 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.14%.

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.