Apollon Wealth Management LLC Buys 15,231 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 35.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,094 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,231 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises approximately 0.7% of Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $20,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optas LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 722 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Investors Inc. increased its stake in Home Depot by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Independent Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE HD traded down $1.58 on Tuesday, reaching $340.71. 2,930,173 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,345,272. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $361.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $343.16. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The company has a market cap of $337.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HD. Zelman & Associates raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $311.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value 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 approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.