Eagle Ridge Investment Management Sells 675 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Eagle Ridge Investment Management lowered its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,145 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 675 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up approximately 1.6% of Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $15,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC raised 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Home Depot in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Home Depot in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE HD traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $336.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,211,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,327,990. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $364.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.27. The stock has a market cap of $333.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders 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 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HD. Barclays raised shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.