Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading 0.5% Higher

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s share price traded up 0.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $335.87 and last traded at $334.66. 685,368 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 3,317,530 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Price Performance

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 fifty day moving average is $367.36 and its 200-day moving average is $339.54. The stock has a market cap of $332.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders 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 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,933,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,554,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Home Depot by 7.4% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 14,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Home Depot by 3.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $236,865,000 after acquiring an additional 24,640 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

About Home Depot

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.