Southland Equity Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,249 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Home Depot by 36.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 136 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price target for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $414.53 on Friday. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $407.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $390.16. The stock has a market cap of $411.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.81 earnings per share. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 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.