Merit Financial Group LLC Has $27.30 Million Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its ownership in The Home Depot by 35.2%, now holding 74,452 shares valued at approximately $27.30 million.
• Home Depot's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $4.68, missing estimates by a slight margin, while revenue was $45.28 billion, indicating a 4.9% year-over-year growth.
• The company has an overall consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with a target price of $436.40, supported by numerous brokerages upgrading their price objectives.

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 35.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,452 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 19,389 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Home Depot were worth $27,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 86.8% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HD. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $417.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Home Depot from $460.00 to $452.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Home Depot from $425.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $436.40.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.0%

HD stock opened at $394.88 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $402.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $376.37. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $326.31 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $393.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.00.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 19th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.69 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $45.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.43 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 193.99% and a net margin of 8.86%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.60 earnings per share. Home Depot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.940-14.940 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Home Depot's payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 32,897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.22, for a total transaction of $13,067,346.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,658.50. The trade was a 21.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 5,483 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.23, for a total value of $2,265,740.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,635,234.11. This represents a 25.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,835 shares of company stock worth $19,623,432. Company 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.

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