Hills Bank & Trust Co Cuts Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Hills Bank & Trust Co trimmed its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,724 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 156 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises about 1.1% of Hills Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $11,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Sawyer & Company Inc increased its position in Home Depot by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 8,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,563,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp lifted its position in Home Depot by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp now owns 38,998 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $11,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in Home Depot by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 60,733 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $18,351,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 33,677 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $10,176,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.1% in the third quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 5,617 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, 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 owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of HD traded down $2.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $345.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,786,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,329,208. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $359.03 and its 200 day moving average is $343.54. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The firm has a market cap of $341.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its 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 during 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%. Home Depot’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HD. Citigroup cut their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.19.

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.