Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Invests $220,000 in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 565 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $35,575,880,000 after buying an additional 8,762,735 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 3rd quarter worth $336,231,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 795,438 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Home Depot by 295.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $280,932,000 after acquiring an additional 518,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,767,449,000 after acquiring an additional 433,126 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on HD. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of HD stock opened at $411.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $409.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $407.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $393.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The company 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%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.81 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. 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.