Investors Research Corp Purchases 63 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Investors Research Corp raised its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,032 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HD. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HD. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Home Depot stock opened at $334.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $369.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $339.05. 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 has a market cap of $331.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. 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. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. 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.