Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 4,688 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 427,372 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,688 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Home Depot were worth $148,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its position in Home Depot by 6.8% during the third quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 1,201 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 11.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 25,958 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $7,844,000 after purchasing an additional 2,627 shares during the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.6% in the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 50,224 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $15,176,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 125.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 14,003 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,234,000 after acquiring an additional 7,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Home Depot by 3.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 369,048 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $111,512,000 after buying an additional 11,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Home Depot Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE HD traded up $8.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $348.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,150,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,391,307. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. 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 firm has a market cap of $345.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $356.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $345.73.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.65 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.36 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 2.58%. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Home Depot from $411.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on Home Depot from $323.00 to $318.00 and set a "reduce" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $374.96.

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.

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