Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC Grows Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,035 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $383.57 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $368.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $334.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.99.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 59.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction 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 approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.