New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 127,582 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,467,294 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 127,582 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises 0.7% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $508,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its stake in Home Depot by 3.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,162 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors grew its stake in Home Depot by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel grew its stake in Home Depot by 8.0% in the third quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 2,700 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Home Depot by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 8,153 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 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 at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE HD traded up $2.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $339.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,264,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,320,626. The company has a market capitalization of $336.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $366.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.19. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Company 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.