Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 950,990 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,696 shares during the quarter. Home Depot accounts for approximately 1.3% of Fifth Third Bancorp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $369,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 51,250.1% in the third 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 period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 3rd quarter worth about $336,231,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 795,438 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 295.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $280,932,000 after buying an additional 518,054 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the second quarter worth about $159,365,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HD shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock opened at $414.53 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $411.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $407.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $390.53.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 61.14%.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. The trade was a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.