Buffington Mohr McNeal Grows Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,422 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $3,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Home Depot by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,737,490 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,918,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,402 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Home Depot by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,730,889,000 after acquiring an additional 153,141 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,740,875,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 105,205.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,994,957 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,472,867,000 after acquiring an additional 10,984,516 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,729,735 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,211,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,660 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Home Depot stock opened at $334.83 on Wednesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $369.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $339.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction 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 approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays upgraded shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.