L & S Advisors Inc Grows Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

L & S Advisors Inc lifted its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,760 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $3,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 27,155 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $9,348,000 after purchasing an additional 5,879 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after purchasing an additional 132,967 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 121.0% during the 2nd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 269,368 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $92,727,000 after purchasing an additional 147,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its position in Home Depot by 225.6% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 32,717 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $13,257,000 after acquiring an additional 22,668 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $400.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $401.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $368.01. The company has a market cap of $397.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $302.34 and a 52-week high of $421.56.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.00.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.