Ellenbecker Investment Group Reduces Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Ellenbecker Investment Group reduced its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,655 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,184 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,836,000 after buying an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 18,320 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,349,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 9,168 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,177,000 after buying an additional 2,468 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its position in Home Depot by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 21,907 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $7,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on HD. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Down 2.1 %

HD traded down $6.98 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $332.02. 1,664,562 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,329,219. The stock has a market cap of $329.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $366.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.51.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share 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 business’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.