Fred Alger Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 5.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,065 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,071 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $17,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 10.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,516,827,000 after acquiring an additional 795,438 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,515,343 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,931,328,000 after acquiring an additional 100,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.4% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 409,890 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % 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 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $429.51 on Friday. 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 $426.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $407.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $371.81. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $308.59 and a 1-year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.14%.

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.