River Global Investors LLP Lowers Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

River Global Investors LLP cut its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,256 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 8.7% in the third quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,031 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,009 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 187.3% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 497 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in Home Depot by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 110,803 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $33,480,000 after purchasing an additional 3,152 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Home Depot by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 102,043 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $30,834,000 after purchasing an additional 6,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HD traded up $7.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $342.85. 4,165,054 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,606,830. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87. The firm has a market cap of $339.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $361.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $342.77. 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 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 company had revenue of $34.79 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HD. StockNews.com cut Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. 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. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $311.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.