Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 180,099 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 735,808 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 180,099 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for 1.3% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $254,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in Home Depot by 3.7% in the third quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 88,444 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $26,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,162 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp boosted its position in Home Depot by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 15,574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors boosted its position in Home Depot by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $253,000. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel boosted its position in Home Depot by 8.0% in the third quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 2,700 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on HD shares. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $323.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:HD traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $331.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,786,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,364,632. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $328.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $365.90 and its 200-day moving average is $340.46.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

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.