Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Decreases Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. reduced its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,354 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises about 1.3% of Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $3,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Home Depot by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 23,545 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,158,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Home Depot by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 166,524 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $57,708,000 after buying an additional 7,173 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc raised its position in Home Depot by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 5,420 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,878,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its position in Home Depot by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 8,510 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Home Depot by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,931 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $18,690,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $332.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.90 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $367.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.97.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Research 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 disclosed 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. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. 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. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction 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 dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

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.