K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Takes $597,000 Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,722 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Optas LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 0.8% in the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. boosted its position in Home Depot by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 722 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Investors Inc. boosted its position in Home Depot by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Investors Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock traded up $3.11 on Friday, hitting $335.09. 2,465,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,779,238. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $364.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.68. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. 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%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s 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 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HD. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho began coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $323.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

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.