Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Increases Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 36.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,168 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,468 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $3,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 21,907 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $7,592,000 after buying an additional 2,245 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Home Depot by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 19,275 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,680,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Gimbal Financial purchased a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at $400,000. Finally, Garrison Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock traded up $3.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $340.03. 1,812,200 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,326,888. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $336.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $366.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.19.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 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 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush raised their price objective on Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Oppenheimer downgraded Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays upgraded Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

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.