Ingalls & Snyder LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,977 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,833 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up 1.3% of Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $27,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Optas LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 0.8% during the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Home Depot by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,778,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 722 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Home Depot by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $342.87 on Monday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $339.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $369.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.58.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,339.65% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HD shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Home Depot from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.35.

About Home Depot

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.