Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Down 1.1% – Should You Sell?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s stock price fell 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $421.89 and last traded at $424.44. 554,432 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 3,357,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $429.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on HD. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Home Depot in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $411.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $376.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The firm has a market cap of $421.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % 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 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HD. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,762,735 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Home Depot by 33,540.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $509,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,459 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the 3rd quarter valued at $336,231,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Home Depot by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,139,934 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $392,411,000 after purchasing an additional 556,053 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.