Cumberland Partners Ltd Grows Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cumberland Partners Ltd lifted its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,723 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,325 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up about 1.4% of Cumberland Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $15,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Home Depot in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Home Depot during the third quarter valued at $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on HD. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:HD traded down $6.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $332.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,612,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,340,436. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $366.40 and a 200-day moving average of $340.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Company 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.