First American Trust FSB Raises Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

First American Trust FSB raised its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 45.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,780 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the quarter. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Private Client Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Keel Point LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 7,113 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sippican Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 2,312 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price objective on the stock. 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 report on Monday, March 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Price Performance

Home Depot stock opened at $334.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $369.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $339.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.98. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. 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. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

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.