Investors Purchase High Volume of Home Depot Call Options (NYSE:HD)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 43,549 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 77% compared to the average daily volume of 24,583 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value 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. The trade was 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 worth $15,624,585 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Depot

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HD. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 51,250.1% during 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 buying an additional 8,762,735 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $509,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,459 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter valued at approximately $336,231,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 10.1% during the third 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 period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at $301,364,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HD shares. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Loop Capital raised Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $429.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $426.77 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.01. Home Depot has a 1 year low of $308.59 and a 1 year high of $439.37. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $405.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $370.41.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly 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 period last year, the business posted $3.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Home Depot will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

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.