The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Bought by First Command Advisory Services Inc.

First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,701 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HD. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays raised Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.7 %

HD opened at $335.36 on Monday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. 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 stock has a market cap of $332.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $367.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $339.88.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

Insider Activity

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

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.