Cerity Partners LLC Sells 45,525 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 628,351 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 45,525 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Home Depot worth $246,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 5,426 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its stake in Home Depot by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 749 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 32,586 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $12,676,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 122.0% in the 4th quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,454,000 after purchasing an additional 4,880 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD stock opened at $353.78 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $384.89 and a 200-day moving average of $398.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.08. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HD. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Gordon Haskett lowered Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.85.

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.