Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Up 1.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) was up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $450.00 to $475.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as high as $414.58 and last traded at $412.70. Approximately 429,624 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,910,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $407.37.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on HD. Barclays increased their price objective on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of 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 price objective on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.78.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 quarter, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 102 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock has a market cap of $411.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $406.14 and its 200-day moving average is $394.55.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 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.