Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC Sells 145 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WealthTrust Axiom LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 2,486 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. LGL Partners LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 3,897 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its position in Home Depot by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 43,115 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $14,942,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 11,194 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,879,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.8 %

HD stock traded down $2.64 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $334.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,997,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,325,878. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $364.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.58.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Company 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.