Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Trims Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. cut its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,685 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 4,216 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises 0.6% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $30,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $35,575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Home Depot in the third quarter worth $336,231,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,516,827,000 after buying an additional 795,438 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 295.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $280,932,000 after buying an additional 518,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter worth about $159,365,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of HD stock opened at $410.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $407.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $406.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $389.32.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,343,399.64. The trade was a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

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.