Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Buys 60 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,355 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Slow Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Home Depot in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Kalos Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 68.34% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of HD opened at $317.26 on Tuesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $265.61 and a 1-year high of $347.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $325.92 and a 200 day moving average of $305.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.53, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 15th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.20. Home Depot had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 1,424.89%. The company had revenue of $42.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.24 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 15th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the home improvement retailer to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st were given a dividend of $2.09 per share. This represents a $8.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 30th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 12,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.40, for a total transaction of $3,943,848.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 73,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,770,144.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, CAO Kimberly R. Scardino sold 1,600 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.69, for a total transaction of $522,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,705,319.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 12,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.40, for a total transaction of $3,943,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,770,144.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,811 shares of company stock valued at $6,441,376. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. TheStreet upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $315.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They set a “hold” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $339.62.

Home Depot Company Profile

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer. 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.