Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,563 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises approximately 0.6% of Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HD. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the first quarter valued at $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HD shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 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 approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of HD stock opened at $361.15 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $370.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $337.67.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for 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 company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

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.