Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 6,921 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 441,805 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 6,921 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up approximately 0.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $153,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 3.7% in the third quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 88,444 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $26,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,162 shares during the last quarter. Hartline Investment Corp increased its position in Home Depot by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 15,574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,397,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors increased its position in Home Depot by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,604,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $253,000. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 8.0% during the third quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 2,700 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock traded up $3.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $335.09. 2,465,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,779,238. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $364.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.97.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.