Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 116 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,788 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armor Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,901 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in Home Depot by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 10,900 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,240,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 75,999 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $29,563,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $416.39 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $405.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $394.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company has a market capitalization of $413.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.81 earnings per share. Home Depot’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on HD. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $465.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Home Depot 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.