Verity & Verity LLC Acquires 5,458 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,667 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 5,458 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Home Depot were worth $9,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co of Kansas grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,318 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its position in Home Depot by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 5,135 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 4,115 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 13,855 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $5,390,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 386 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of HD traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $409.42. 3,194,517 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,543,379. The stock has a market cap of $406.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $406.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $388.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 77,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on HD. Loop Capital raised Home Depot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $459.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $426.00.

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.