Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Grows Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,520 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $13,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,730,889,000 after purchasing an additional 153,141 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,506,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207,388 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 11.3% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 346,641 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,483,454 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $750,448,000 after acquiring an additional 17,224 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $311.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $335.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $364.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $340.97. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

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.