SFE Investment Counsel Purchases New Shares in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

SFE Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 540 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on HD. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on 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 lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $431.00.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $412.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $409.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $405.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $395.46. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.77 and a 52 week high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot 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.