Bell Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Bell Asset Management Ltd decreased its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,253 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 3,247 shares during the period. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth about $5,032,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 21,394.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $793,486,000 after buying an additional 2,030,372 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after purchasing an additional 875,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Home Depot by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 7,554,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,925,498,000 after buying an additional 599,490 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $353.78 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $351.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $384.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $398.35. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on HD. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Home Depot from $435.00 to $418.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.85.

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.