The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Position Cut by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 67.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 255,848 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 523,870 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $99,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,767,449,000 after purchasing an additional 433,126 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,426,649 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,819,679,000 after acquiring an additional 205,954 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,516,827,000 after acquiring an additional 795,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Home Depot by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,515,343 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,931,328,000 after acquiring an additional 100,139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $405.99 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $405.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $386.65. The company has a market cap of $403.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65.

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

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on Home Depot in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of Home Depot 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Home Depot 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.