ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,827 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 6,303 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $30,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 86.8% during the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.40.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $394.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $326.31 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $402.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $376.21. The stock has a market cap of $393.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.00.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.69 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $45.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.43 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.86% and a return on equity of 193.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.60 EPS. Home Depot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.940-14.940 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Angie Brown sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.07, for a total value of $404,070.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,416.59. The trade was a 20.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard V. Mcphail sold 3,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.66, for a total value of $1,359,930.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,348,365.30. The trade was a 6.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,835 shares of company stock valued at $19,623,432. 0.10% of the stock is 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.