The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada cut its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,782,071 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 398,142 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises 0.8% of Royal Bank of Canada’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.98% of Home Depot worth $3,805,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HD. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,758 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,242,000 after buying an additional 3,873 shares during the period. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $409,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,193,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 6,173 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.32.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $379.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $357.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $388.12. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.66%.

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.