Hartford Financial Management Inc. Sells 360 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,554 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for approximately 1.6% of Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $7,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after buying an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,525,046,000 after purchasing an additional 257,036 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth about $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,845,098,000 after purchasing an additional 647,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,726,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $398.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up previously from $410.00) on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Home Depot from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 5,406 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.28, for a total value of $1,996,327.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,367 shares in the company, valued at $6,413,285.76. This represents a 23.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Fahim Siddiqui sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.14, for a total value of $954,564.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,919,130.14. The trade was a 24.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $346.41 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $362.86 and a 200 day moving average of $381.18. The company has a market cap of $344.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $326.31 and a 12-month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.59 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $39.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.24 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 242.51%. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 62.42%.

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.