The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,467,294 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 127,582 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up about 0.7% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.15% of Home Depot worth $508,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 1.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,730,889,000 after purchasing an additional 153,141 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 12,647.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,930,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,506,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207,388 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 11.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,418,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,032,904,000 after purchasing an additional 346,641 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 0.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,483,454 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $750,448,000 after purchasing an additional 17,224 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays upgraded Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD traded up $2.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $339.07. 1,264,701 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,320,626. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $366.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $336.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Home Depot 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.