AIA Group Ltd Acquires 412 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,305 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises approximately 1.9% of AIA Group Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $45,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 value of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HD. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush lifted their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $332.99 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $367.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $338.97. The company has a market cap of $330.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Home Depot 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.