Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Increases Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,111 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $4,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $337.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $334.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $369.56 and a 200 day moving average of $338.82. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,339.65% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 59.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on HD. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wedbush upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Barclays raised shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.35.

Home Depot 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.