Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 63,296 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,724,453 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 63,296 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises approximately 0.7% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.27% of Home Depot worth $944,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 88,444 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $26,725,000 after purchasing an additional 3,162 shares during the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth $253,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 2,700 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 8,153 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of HD opened at $337.93 on Tuesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $396.87. The company has a market cap of $334.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $369.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $338.82.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,339.65%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.35.

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.