Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,458 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,837 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financially Speaking Inc acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Richard V. Mcphail sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.89, for a total value of $940,669.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,566 shares in the company, valued at $16,439,951.74. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HD. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $407.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $414.17.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $324.22 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $343.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $359.22. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $315.31 and a 12-month high of $426.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.62. The stock has a market cap of $322.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.20. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 134.32%. The business had revenue of $38.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Home Depot has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.230-14.799 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a $2.33 dividend. This represents a $9.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.30. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.50%.

About Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc (NYSE: HD) is a leading home improvement retailer that operates large-format stores and an integrated online platform offering a broad range of products and services for do-it-yourself consumers, professional contractors and businesses. The company was founded in 1978 by Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Since opening its first stores at the end of the 1970s, Home Depot has grown into a multinational retailer known for its orange-branded stores and wide assortment of home improvement merchandise.

Home Depot’s core business includes the sale of building materials, lumber, tools, hardware, appliances, paint, plumbing and electrical supplies, lawn and garden products, and home décor.