Highland Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,610 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,620 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 36.0% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 136 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Home Depot by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 171,005 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $69,340,000 after acquiring an additional 16,650 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Home Depot by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 202,002 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $81,851,000 after acquiring an additional 13,151 shares in the last quarter. Unique Wealth LLC raised its position in Home Depot by 4.0% during the third quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 0.6% during the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 8,470 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,432,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.6 %

Home Depot stock opened at $411.86 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $408.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $392.08. The company has a market capitalization of $409.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.14%.

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.