Empirical Finance LLC Has $12.90 Million Position in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,182 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for about 0.7% of Empirical Finance LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $12,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Centerpoint Advisory Group increased its position in Home Depot by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group now owns 3,163 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% during the second quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. now owns 1,178 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 4.7% during the second quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.5% during the first quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.5% in the second quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP William D. Bastek sold 2,303 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.12, for a total transaction of $974,445.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,254,313.20. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 5,483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 16,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,635,234.11. This represents a 25.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,466 shares of company stock valued at $17,859,432. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the topic of several research reports. Gordon Haskett reduced their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $345.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Home Depot from $403.00 to $406.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Home Depot in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (down from $440.00) on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.52.

Home Depot Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $336.55 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $390.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $381.80. The stock has a market cap of $334.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $326.31 and a 12 month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.84 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $41.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.06 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 193.99% and a net margin of 8.86%.Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Home Depot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.478-14.478 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

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.