The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is Welch & Forbes LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 431,719 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,226 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up approximately 2.3% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $149,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,270 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,945,000 after purchasing an additional 2,340 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,094 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $20,132,000 after acquiring an additional 15,231 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 31,930 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $11,066,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $392,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 26,407 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,151,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HD shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush boosted their price target on Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Zelman & Associates upgraded Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:HD traded down $0.57 on Monday, hitting $342.28. The stock had a trading volume of 3,366,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,350,042. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $361.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $343.16. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market cap of $339.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company’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. Equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 59.60%.

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.