The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,809 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $26,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% during the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HD shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Zelman & Associates upgraded Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.19.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of HD traded down $1.39 on Tuesday, hitting $340.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,737,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,331,074. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $361.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $343.16. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $337.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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.

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.