Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 24,198 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Sarasin & Partners LLP lowered its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 905,131 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 24,198 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up about 3.6% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned 0.09% of Home Depot worth $366,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after purchasing an additional 875,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $8,525,046,000 after acquiring an additional 257,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Home Depot by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,845,098,000 after acquiring an additional 647,552 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Home Depot by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,726,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Fahim Siddiqui sold 2,600 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.14, for a total transaction of $954,564.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,919,130.14. The trade was a 24.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 5,406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.28, for a total transaction of $1,996,327.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,367 shares in the company, valued at $6,413,285.76. This trade represents a 23.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HD. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Home Depot from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Home Depot to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Home Depot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $405.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $461.00 to $456.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $424.00 to $399.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $426.77.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.2%

Home Depot stock traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $370.84. 815,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,402,198. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.93 and a 12 month high of $439.37. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $361.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $385.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $368.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.59 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $39.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.24 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.42%.

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.