Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $5.36 Million Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,788 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,901 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 10,900 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,240,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 75,999 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $29,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.6 %

HD opened at $416.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $405.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $394.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HD shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.85.

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.