Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Acquires 604 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,058 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $8,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Home Depot during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Home Depot during the second quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Home Depot by 36.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 136 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HD traded down $1.24 on Monday, reaching $388.65. 1,955,001 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,894,911. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $406.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $385.97. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.77 and a 52 week high of $439.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $386.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 61.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Company 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.