Empirical Asset Management LLC Buys 2,379 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 87.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,092 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,379 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for about 1.4% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HD. Bay Rivers Group lifted its stake in Home Depot by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bay Rivers Group now owns 9,159 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,174,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Apeiron RIA LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $934,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at about $242,000. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Home Depot by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 1,960 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.34% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:HD traded down $4.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $390.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,884,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,186,361. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $366.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $332.94. 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 twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87. The stock has a market cap of $386.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.99.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.39 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Home Depot 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lowered Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Home Depot from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.76.

Home Depot Profile

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer. 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.