The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,094 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 2,671 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Home Depot were worth $8,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $3,730,889,000 after purchasing an additional 153,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,802,085 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $3,050,363,000 after purchasing an additional 195,670 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,930,104,000 after buying an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,506,659,000 after buying an additional 1,207,388 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 11.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,418,400 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,032,904,000 after buying an additional 346,641 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Home Depot from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and issued a $323.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock traded up $7.50 on Friday, hitting $343.03. The stock had a trading volume of 4,164,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,349,842. The stock has a market cap of $339.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The company's 50 day moving average price is $362.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $341.76.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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