Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Lowers Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA cut its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 39.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,132 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 17,913 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up 2.8% of Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $10,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after buying an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,767,449,000 after acquiring an additional 433,126 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,032,910,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,552,090 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,715,668,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Home Depot by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 7,554,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,925,498,000 after purchasing an additional 599,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.85.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $357.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $355.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $389.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $398.60. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $2.30 dividend. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

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.