Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Boosts Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 41.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,793 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,270 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $38,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $35,575,880,000 after buying an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in Home Depot by 33,540.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $509,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,459 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $336,231,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 10.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 795,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 95.2% during the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,139,934 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $392,411,000 after purchasing an additional 556,053 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on HD. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Gordon Haskett raised Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $426.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $409.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $374.14. The company has a market cap of $423.81 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.03. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.14%.

Home Depot Company 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.