Home Depot Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HD)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 49,246 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 65% compared to the typical daily volume of 29,771 call options.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, EVP William D. Bastek sold 2,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.12, for a total value of $974,445.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,254,313.20. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 110.0% in the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Financially Speaking Inc acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HD. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $395.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Home Depot from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Gordon Haskett dropped their target price on Home Depot from $345.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $403.93.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE HD opened at $350.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $374.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $379.93. The company has a market capitalization of $349.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 1.06. Home Depot has a 1-year low of $326.31 and a 1-year high of $436.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.83 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $41.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.06 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 160.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. Home Depot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.478-14.478 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 62.71%.

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.