Certuity LLC Acquires 805 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Certuity LLC grew its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,897 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 43,115 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $14,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,544 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 11,194 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,879,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 16,820 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,829,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 86,110 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $29,841,000 after purchasing an additional 6,441 shares during the period. Finally, Ledyard National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 38,608 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $13,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 transaction, 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. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. 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 note 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE HD traded down $2.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $334.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,542,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,322,920. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The company has a market cap of $331.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $364.25 and a 200-day moving average of $341.58. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 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 issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 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.