Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Buys 500 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,629 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $6,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Home Depot by 51,250.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the third quarter worth $336,231,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $3,516,827,000 after buying an additional 795,438 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Home Depot by 295.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $280,932,000 after buying an additional 518,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Home Depot by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,767,449,000 after buying an additional 433,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock opened at $413.92 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $411.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $406.84 and a 200-day moving average of $393.55. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $323.77 and a one year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. Home Depot’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid 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 dividend yield of 2.17%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.