Matt Carey Sells 56,008 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Stock

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,325 shares in the company, valued at $11,503,123.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD opened at $337.93 on Tuesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $354.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $347.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.02. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 1,056.67%. The company had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. Home Depot’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HD. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 14.9% in the first quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,807 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,227,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its holdings in Home Depot by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 4,813 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Home Depot by 3.1% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 40,273 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $15,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% during the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 3,023 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montchanin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter worth about $4,701,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on HD. Bank of America boosted their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Zelman & Associates raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Home Depot from $425.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $417.00 to $406.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.46.

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.