NFJ Investment Group LLC Lowers Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

NFJ Investment Group LLC lessened its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,128 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 622 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $25,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 3.7% during the third quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 704 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Home Depot by 0.7% during the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,624 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its holdings in Home Depot by 1.1% in the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 2,494 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,372 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 845 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD traded down $2.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $424.82. The stock had a trading volume of 287,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,369,940. 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 firm has a market cap of $422.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $407.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.20. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $318.96 and a one year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HD shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Loop Capital raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Daiwa America upgraded Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

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.