UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Has $4.39 Million Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,670 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 173 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises about 1.3% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $4,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Home Depot in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:HD traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $340.69. 2,867,117 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,344,557. 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 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $337.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $361.16 and a 200 day moving average of $343.16.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HD. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $323.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.19.

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.