Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $6.54 Million in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 16,218 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,544,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Home Depot by 2.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.2% in the third 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 buying an additional 205,954 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 51,250.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $35,575,880,000 after acquiring an additional 8,762,735 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 10.1% in 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 raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the second 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at $31,727,562. The trade was 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 available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.5 %

Home Depot stock opened at $422.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $411.09 and a 200-day moving average of $376.09. The company has a market cap of $419.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.03. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $323.77 and a one year high of $439.37.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HD shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

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.