Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Purchases 317 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,524 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its stake in Home Depot by 27.6% during the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 27,155 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $9,348,000 after acquiring an additional 5,879 shares in the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Home Depot by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in Home Depot by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Home Depot by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $368,542,000 after purchasing an additional 132,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Home Depot by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,291,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius Research began coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $420.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE HD opened at $409.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $406.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $406.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $386.78. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

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.