Palouse Capital Management Inc. Sells 303 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,570 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 303 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $558,000. Tanager Wealth Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Zhang Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,114 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,388 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,867,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $335.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The stock has a market cap of $332.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $367.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $339.54. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer cut shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays raised Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $323.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

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.