The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,582,287 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 30,439 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up 0.8% of National Pension Service’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. National Pension Service’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $548,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HD shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, 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 report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.19.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of HD stock traded up $5.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $344.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,142,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,317,774. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $360.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $343.54. The company has a market capitalization of $341.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The business 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%. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

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.