WESPAC Advisors LLC Takes $222,000 Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 548 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 10.7% in the first 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 last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in 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 valued at $4,381,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the period. Kinloch Capital LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth $246,000. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 26.7% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 47,025 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $18,039,000 after acquiring an additional 9,915 shares during the period. Finally, Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 8.0% during the first quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,643 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $420.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $417.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.01. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $403.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $369.04. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $308.31 and a 52-week high of $421.56.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585. Company 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.