The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 356,458 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 28,336 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up 0.6% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $123,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 3.7% in the third quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 88,444 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $26,725,000 after buying an additional 3,162 shares during the period. Wolf Group Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,604,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $253,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 8.0% in the third quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 2,700 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 8,153 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HD. Wedbush upped their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays raised Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $335.36 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $367.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted 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. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s 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 directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. 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.