The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 815,247 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 20,610 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $330,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,762,735 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 1,474,459 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at about $301,364,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in Home Depot by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,139,934 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $392,411,000 after acquiring an additional 556,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 79.4% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,172,647 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $403,672,000 after buying an additional 519,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned 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.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE HD opened at $428.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $425.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.01. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $308.59 and a 1-year high of $430.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $404.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $369.82.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.