Busey Bank Cuts Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Busey Bank lessened its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,405 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 405 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $6,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.8% in the third quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after acquiring an additional 132,967 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Home Depot by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,793,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $411.86 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $408.02 and a 200-day moving average of $392.08. The company has a market cap of $409.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.81 EPS. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Home Depot from $459.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.