First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 52 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,597 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Home Depot by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,730,889,000 after acquiring an additional 153,141 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,525,791 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,207,388 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Home Depot by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,418,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,904,000 after acquiring an additional 346,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Home Depot by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,483,454 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $750,448,000 after acquiring an additional 17,224 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on HD shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer cut Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $335.01 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $396.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $364.77 and its 200 day moving average is $340.68. The stock has a market cap of $332.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 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.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently 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.