Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 2,691 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in The Home Depot by 57.9%, selling 2,691 shares and now owns 1,953 shares valued at $716,000.
• The Home Depot's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $4.68, missing estimates by $0.01, with revenue of $45.28 billion, a 4.9% increase year-over-year.
• Home Depot announced a quarterly dividend of $2.30 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 62.50%.

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 57.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,953 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 2,691 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Home Depot were worth $716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,484,199 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $35,360,494,000 after purchasing an additional 720,447 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 99,400.7% during the first quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 18,975,772 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $6,954,431,000 after purchasing an additional 18,956,701 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,415,278 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $5,282,398,000 after purchasing an additional 891,326 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 19.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,253,292 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,391,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 8,949,404 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,279,867,000 after acquiring an additional 477,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 5,483 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.23, for a total transaction of $2,265,740.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,635,234.11. This represents a 25.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP William D. Bastek sold 3,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.23, for a total transaction of $1,551,900.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,235 shares in the company, valued at $9,941,924.05. The trade was a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,835 shares of company stock valued at $19,623,432 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock opened at $394.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $326.31 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The company has a market cap of $392.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $402.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $375.89.

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

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Home Depot from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Home Depot from $425.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Home Depot from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $436.40.

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.

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