Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Has $4.23 Million Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,194 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for 3.6% of Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $4,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HD shares. Zelman & Associates raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:HD traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $342.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,165,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,606,830. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $361.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $342.77. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $339.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, 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 transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other 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 value 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’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. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.