LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 534 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC trimmed its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,960 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 534 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $3,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Home Depot during the first quarter worth about $2,933,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Home Depot during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot during the first quarter worth about $1,554,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Home Depot by 7.4% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 14,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Home Depot by 3.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $236,865,000 after acquiring an additional 24,640 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on HD. HSBC lowered Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Home Depot from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’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 directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD traded down $2.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $383.34. 1,780,110 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,136,531. The business has a 50 day moving average of $367.86 and a 200 day moving average of $334.18. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The company has a market capitalization of $379.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.99.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.39 EPS for the current 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. 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 yield of 2.35%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

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.