Royal Fund Management LLC Buys 434 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Royal Fund Management LLC increased its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,270 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Reliant Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 19,306 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $7,510,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,659 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 25,743 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $10,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Finally, Martel Wealth Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $1,221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HD. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD stock opened at $410.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $407.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $406.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $389.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Home Depot Company 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.