American Trust Cuts Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

American Trust lessened its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,672 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,391 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $4,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in Home Depot by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 6,010 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,069,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.4% during the second quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Home Depot by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 32,529 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $11,198,000 after acquiring an additional 3,022 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Home Depot by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 34,460 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $12,815,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of HD opened at $414.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $411.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $377.35. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37. The stock has a market cap of $411.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Gordon Haskett raised Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Loop Capital upgraded Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

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.