Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 2,400 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 53,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $20,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 171,005 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $69,340,000 after purchasing an additional 16,650 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in Home Depot by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Home Depot by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 513,327 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $199,295,000 after acquiring an additional 33,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Home Depot by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after acquiring an additional 132,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock opened at $407.20 on Thursday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $405.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $395.38. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05.

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. Analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.85.

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.