WASHINGTON TRUST Co Acquires 2,250 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,767 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for 1.7% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $42,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the first quarter valued at about $2,933,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Home Depot during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at about $1,554,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 7.4% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 14,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Home Depot by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $236,865,000 after buying an additional 24,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Home Depot from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays raised shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.76.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD stock traded down $2.89 on Thursday, hitting $383.00. 1,841,569 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,137,208. 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 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The stock has a market cap of $379.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $367.86 and a 200-day moving average of $334.18.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 59.60%.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, 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. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.