Independence Bank of Kentucky Raises Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bey Douglas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth approximately $913,000. Hartline Investment Corp boosted its stake in Home Depot by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 15,574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Wolf Group Capital Advisors grew its position in Home Depot by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,604,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $253,000. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Home Depot by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 8,153 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,503,123.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE HD traded up $2.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $344.24. 6,344,192 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,519,389. The firm has a market cap of $341.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $352.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.02. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,056.67% and a net margin of 9.79%. The business had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 60.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on HD shares. DA Davidson raised shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $352.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Home Depot from $411.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.42.

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.