Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,138 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,239 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $10,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HD. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Friday, April 5th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.3 %

HD stock traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $331.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,786,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,364,632. The firm has a market cap of $328.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.98. 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 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $365.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $340.40.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $2.25 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot 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 value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.