Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,641 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up approximately 1.3% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $6,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HD. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co lifted its stake in Home Depot by 2.6% in the third quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 3,481 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Wealth Management Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 6,722 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,338 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $13,095,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares during the period. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Home Depot by 16.1% during the third quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV now owns 13,140 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after buying an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 14.6% during the third quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 770 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $339.82 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $360.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $343.54. The stock has a market cap of $336.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. This is a positive change 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on HD shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.19.

Home Depot Profile

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.