Lipe & Dalton Decreases Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Lipe & Dalton cut its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 970 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $332.83 on Thursday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of $329.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $368.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.01.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on HD. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upgraded Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

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.