The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Purchased by Liberty Capital Management Inc.

Liberty Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,975 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 38 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises approximately 2.0% of Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $8,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Home Depot by 1.8% in the third quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in Home Depot by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after buying an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Home Depot by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,291,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $1,793,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Home Depot Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of HD stock opened at $414.25 on Tuesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.50 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $406.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $394.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on HD. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.78.

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.