Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $9.53 Million Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises about 2.7% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $9,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HD. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on HD. TD Cowen raised their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $417.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upgraded Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Insider Activity

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction 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 $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD opened at $332.89 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $329.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $367.92 and its 200-day moving average is $338.97.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business 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 was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

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.