Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 30.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 329,818 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 145,616 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $128,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.8% during 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 raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Home Depot by 17.1% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $368,542,000 after purchasing an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Home Depot by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,793,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research 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.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE HD opened at $413.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $411.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a PEG 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 company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve 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 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.