Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 2,340 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,270 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,340 shares during the quarter. 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 SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HD. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 53.3% during 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. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Home Depot Trading Down 0.5 %

HD stock traded down $1.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $340.71. 2,930,173 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,345,272. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $360.47 and a 200-day moving average of $343.54. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HD. Piper Sandler upgraded Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.19.

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.