Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Acquires 921 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,431 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $12,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 0.8% during the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,778,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 722 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 0.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zelman & Associates upgraded Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock traded down $2.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $331.97. 3,184,690 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,340,787. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $363.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $341.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.