Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC Raises Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,035 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HD shares. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. 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 target for the company. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.76.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:HD opened at $383.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $380.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.99. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $368.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $334.54.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.39 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

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.