Lincoln National Corp Raises Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Lincoln National Corp grew its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,930 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $11,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HD. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. increased its stake in Home Depot by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,778,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 722 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Independent Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HD. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.19.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD traded down $1.60 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $340.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,891,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,344,839. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $361.16 and its 200 day moving average is $343.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.