HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 30,136 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 921,224 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,136 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $373,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $35,575,880,000 after acquiring an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 33,540.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $509,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,459 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Home Depot during the third quarter worth about $336,231,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,516,827,000 after purchasing an additional 795,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 95.2% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,139,934 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $392,411,000 after purchasing an additional 556,053 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of HD opened at $427.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $318.96 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $407.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.20. The firm has a market cap of $424.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.03.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on HD. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.