Conning Inc. Sells 15,436 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Conning Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,744 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 15,436 shares during the quarter. Home Depot accounts for about 1.3% of Conning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $36,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Finley Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on HD. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $407.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $406.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $394.00. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.77 and a 52-week high of $439.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $404.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Home Depot Company 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.