Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Buys New Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 882 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HD traded up $3.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $335.01. 2,464,650 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,354,161. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $364.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $340.68. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. 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 has a market capitalization of $332.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 59.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

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.