The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Acquired by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,033 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 5,770 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Home Depot were worth $14,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $8,767,449,000 after purchasing an additional 433,126 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,426,649 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,819,679,000 after buying an additional 205,954 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 51,250.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $35,575,880,000 after acquiring an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,516,827,000 after purchasing an additional 795,438 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 5.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,030,483 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,253,952,000 after buying an additional 409,890 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, 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 transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. 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 Stock Down 0.6 %

HD traded down $2.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $411.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,761,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,883,614. The stock's 50-day moving average is $407.86 and its 200-day moving average is $392.46. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.81 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot's payout ratio is 61.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Home Depot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot 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.