West Paces Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

West Paces Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,534 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 214 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up approximately 1.3% of West Paces Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $4,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter worth about $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of HD opened at $332.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $368.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday. One equities 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot 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.