Verity Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 560 The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 560 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,503,123.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HD. Citigroup dropped their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 25th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Home Depot from $411.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $381.40.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.9 %

HD stock traded down $3.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $355.43. 3,764,790 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,182,945. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $346.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.49.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.65 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,056.67% and a net margin of 9.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 60.36%.

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.