The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,977 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 15,703 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for about 0.4% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $26,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,791 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,506,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207,388 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,210,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Home Depot by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,468,902 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $746,003,000 after purchasing an additional 421,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 11.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,418,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,032,904,000 after acquiring an additional 346,641 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD traded up $3.24 on Tuesday, hitting $339.35. 1,409,705 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,322,049. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $366.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.19. The stock has a market cap of $336.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a 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 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HD. StockNews.com lowered shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $323.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

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.