The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Position Increased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,270 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $4,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 35.5% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,094 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $20,132,000 after buying an additional 15,231 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp lifted its position in Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 31,930 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $11,066,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at $392,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 26,407 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $9,151,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $1,222,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush lifted their price target on Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.19.

Insider Activity

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

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock traded down $1.58 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $340.71. 2,930,173 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,345,272. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $360.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $343.54. The company has a market cap of $337.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Home Depot Company 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.