The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Position Trimmed by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,094 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,671 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $8,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 3.7% in the third quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 88,444 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $26,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,162 shares in the last quarter. Hartline Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 15,574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth $253,000. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 2,700 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on HD. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $311.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock traded up $7.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $343.03. 4,164,367 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,349,842. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $362.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.76.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. Home Depot’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.