Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,458 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,837 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silphium Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in Home Depot by 77.2% during the third quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 13,544 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,488,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Home Depot by 0.3% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,095,113 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $443,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,608 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Home Depot by 2.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 534,564 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $216,600,000 after purchasing an additional 12,239 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its position in Home Depot by 59.9% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 107,438 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $43,533,000 after purchasing an additional 40,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Home Depot by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 19,478 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,703,000 after purchasing an additional 5,152 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $324.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.62. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $315.31 and a 52 week high of $426.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $343.27 and its 200 day moving average is $359.22. The company has a market cap of $322.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.20. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 134.32%. The company had revenue of $38.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Home Depot has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.230-14.799 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th were paid a $2.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.30. This represents a $9.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 65.50%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, CFO Richard V. Mcphail sold 2,550 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.89, for a total value of $940,669.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,439,951.74. The trade was a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $413.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $381.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $413.00 to $409.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $414.17.

About Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc (NYSE: HD) is a leading home improvement retailer that operates large-format stores and an integrated online platform offering a broad range of products and services for do-it-yourself consumers, professional contractors and businesses. The company was founded in 1978 by Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Since opening its first stores at the end of the 1970s, Home Depot has grown into a multinational retailer known for its orange-branded stores and wide assortment of home improvement merchandise.

Home Depot’s core business includes the sale of building materials, lumber, tools, hardware, appliances, paint, plumbing and electrical supplies, lawn and garden products, and home décor.