Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Sells 757 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 9.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,058 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 757 shares during the quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Willis Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.4% during the first quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 98,795 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $29,156,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at $1,332,000. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 7.2% during the first quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 727 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 20.2% during the first quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 132,439 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $39,081,000 after acquiring an additional 22,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 3.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 101,411 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $29,928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Home Depot from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Home Depot from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Home Depot from $321.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Home Depot from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Home Depot from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.62.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $317.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $317.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.53, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $325.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $305.38. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $265.61 and a one year high of $347.25.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $42.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,424.89% and a net margin of 10.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.05 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.24 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 31st were issued a $2.09 dividend. This represents a $8.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 30th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.22%.

Home Depot declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 15th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the home improvement retailer to buy up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 6,091 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.22, for a total value of $1,974,824.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,375,680.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 6,091 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.22, for a total value of $1,974,824.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,375,680.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 12,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.40, for a total value of $3,943,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 73,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,770,144.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,811 shares of company stock worth $6,441,376. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Profile

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer. 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.