Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC Trims Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC cut its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,151 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 318 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for 2.3% of Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $3,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth $366,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth $6,084,000. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Portfolios Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Portfolios Inc. now owns 799 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC raised its position in Home Depot by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 14,549 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,042,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on HD. Wedbush increased their price target on Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer lowered Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

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 transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $332.83 on Thursday. 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $368.54 and a 200 day moving average of $339.01. The company has a market capitalization of $329.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced 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 return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

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.