Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Down 0.6%

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) dropped 0.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $340.56 and last traded at $340.75. Approximately 820,541 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 3,271,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $342.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer downgraded Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $369.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $339.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $4,311,070,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 105,205.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,994,957 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,472,867,000 after purchasing an additional 10,984,516 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,930,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 30,994.4% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,413,234 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $241,323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,405,473 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,450,798 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,928,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,762 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.