The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by Aldebaran Financial Inc.

Aldebaran Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,045 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up about 1.1% of Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optas LLC increased its position 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 valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.8% in the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 722 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $323.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $335.36 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $332.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $396.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $367.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $339.88.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is 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.