Essex Savings Bank Has $6.50 Million Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Essex Savings Bank raised its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,714 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up 1.6% of Essex Savings Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $6,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stolper Co boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Stolper Co now owns 13,472 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,240,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 10,549 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,105,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 9,119 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,547,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sawyer & Company Inc increased its position in Home Depot by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 8,224 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Home Depot from $387.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $409.21 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $406.24 and its 200-day moving average is $386.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released 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. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

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

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.