Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Lowers Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 218,975 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,753 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises approximately 1.2% of Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $75,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,777 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,540,197,000 after acquiring an additional 347,614 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,730,889,000 after purchasing an additional 153,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,802,085 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,050,363,000 after buying an additional 195,670 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 12,647.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,506,659,000 after buying an additional 1,207,388 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock traded down $1.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $340.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,930,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,345,272. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $337.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $360.47 and its 200 day moving average is $343.54. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $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 Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HD. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.19.

Home Depot 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.