Westwood Management Corp IL Sells 75,640 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Westwood Management Corp IL lessened its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 58.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,113 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 75,640 shares during the quarter. Home Depot accounts for 6.8% of Westwood Management Corp IL’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Westwood Management Corp IL’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $18,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,099 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $6,786,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,590 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,056,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Essex LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Essex LLC now owns 968 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Alpha Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company 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, April 8th. Oppenheimer cut Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Home Depot from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.35.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock opened at $342.87 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $339.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $369.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $338.32. 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 issued 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 during 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 for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio 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.