Kovack Advisors Inc. Grows Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,991 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for 0.6% of Kovack Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $4,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the third quarter worth about $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE HD traded up $3.03 on Friday, hitting $335.01. 2,464,650 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,354,161. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $364.77 and a 200 day moving average of $340.68. The company has a market capitalization of $332.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87.

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 business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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 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. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.