Applied Capital LLC FL Decreases Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Applied Capital LLC FL lowered its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,441 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises about 2.0% of Applied Capital LLC FL’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Applied Capital LLC FL’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at about $2,933,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,554,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 7.4% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 14,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,379,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 3.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $236,865,000 after buying an additional 24,640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE HD opened at $342.87 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $396.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $369.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $338.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $339.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction 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. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.35.

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.