The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,186 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 543 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up about 1.5% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,503,123.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HD. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $323.00 to $318.00 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.46.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Home Depot stock traded down $3.70 during trading on Thursday, hitting $326.89. The stock had a trading volume of 3,400,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,397,238. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $351.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $347.35. The company has a market capitalization of $323.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.65 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 1,056.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 29th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 60.36%.

Home Depot Company 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.