Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Home Depot (NYSE:HD)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 43,549 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 77% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,583 call options.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $427.32 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $405.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $370.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. Home Depot has a twelve month low of $308.59 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The firm has a market cap of $424.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.03, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid 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 2.11%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 61.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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, Truist Financial increased their price target on Home Depot from $459.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.