Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Boosts Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 42.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,816 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,963 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. STAR Financial Bank grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 3,944 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 4.3% in the fourth 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. grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.5% in the fourth 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. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $363.25. The company had a trading volume of 3,709,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,428,636. The stock has a market cap of $360.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $352.89. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.02. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 1,056.67%. The company had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on HD. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $417.00 to $406.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total value of $19,332,841.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,503,123.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.