Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc Acquires New Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc purchased a new position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,785 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000. Home Depot comprises 0.6% of Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Home Depot from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer downgraded Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. HSBC lowered shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.76.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock traded up $4.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $384.33. 193,033 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,120,449. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $367.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $333.82. The firm has a market cap of $380.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its 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. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

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

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.