Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Raises Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,561 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up 1.1% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $6,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HD. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $429.51 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $308.59 and a 1-year high of $439.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $407.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $371.81. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $426.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at $8,343,399.64. The trade was a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 over the last three months. 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.