Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Decreases Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lowered its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 51.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,961 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,110 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,635,779 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $34,284,672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325,748 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Home Depot by 0.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,400,133 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,619,229,000 after acquiring an additional 30,739 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Home Depot by 60.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,143,089 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,109,878,000 after acquiring an additional 3,836,051 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 2.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,130,293 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,104,694,000 after acquiring an additional 197,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Home Depot by 1.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,181,165 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,504,546,000 after acquiring an additional 116,875 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $424.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $391.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lifted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $414.17.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CFO Richard V. Mcphail sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,439,951.74. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of 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 company has a market capitalization of $322.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $343.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $359.22. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $315.31 and a 52-week high of $426.75.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Home Depot has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.230-14.799 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

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

Home Depot Company Profile

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.