Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Trims Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 37,015 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $14,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bey Douglas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth about $913,000. Hartline Investment Corp grew its position in Home Depot by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 15,574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors grew its position in Home Depot by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Home Depot by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 8,153 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,503,123.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of HD stock traded down $3.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $332.62. 1,390,014 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,443,165. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $338.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $352.80. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $36.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.65 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 1,056.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.42.

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.