Strs Ohio Has $143.20 Million Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Strs Ohio cut its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 413,205 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 19,627 shares during the quarter. Home Depot accounts for 0.6% of Strs Ohio’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $143,196,000 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 increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 3.7% during the third quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 88,444 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $26,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,162 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Home Depot by 6.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $253,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel grew its holdings in Home Depot by 8.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Home Depot by 6.6% during 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 in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HD. TD Cowen upped their price target on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho began coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.35.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $337.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $369.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $338.82. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,339.65% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Home Depot 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 owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the 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 owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.