GoalVest Advisory LLC Boosts Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 325 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HD. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,394 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,421 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,381,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 92.7% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 66,257 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $25,407,000 after purchasing an additional 31,877 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 42.3% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 6,816 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 57.7% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 2,906 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HD. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $408.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.01. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $302.34 and a 12 month high of $421.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $399.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $366.56.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $40.22 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

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.