Legal & General Group Plc Raises Position in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,181,165 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 116,875 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for about 0.6% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.62% of Home Depot worth $2,504,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,885,603,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Home Depot by 36,207.5% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,076,783 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,694,552,000 after purchasing an additional 10,049,029 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Home Depot by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,978,814 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $35,922,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,615 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 11.1% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,903,550 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,938,935,000 after buying an additional 790,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 112.3% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,444,128 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $585,147,000 after buying an additional 763,739 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HD. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $445.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $430.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Home Depot from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $416.00.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of HD opened at $353.35 on Tuesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $326.31 and a 12-month high of $426.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a P/E/G ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $373.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $378.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.62.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $38.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.01 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 134.32%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. Home Depot has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.230-14.799 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $2.33 per share. This represents a $9.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.30. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.26, for a total transaction of $51,947.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,413,763.20. This trade represents a 1.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 2,872 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Friday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.52, for a total value of $1,000,949.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,196 shares in the company, valued at $4,599,069.92. This represents a 17.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,513 shares of company stock valued at $2,689,515. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Company Profile

The Home Depot, Inc (NYSE: HD) is a leading home improvement retailer that operates large-format stores and an integrated online platform offering a broad range of products and services for do-it-yourself consumers, professional contractors and businesses. The company was founded in 1978 by Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Since opening its first stores at the end of the 1970s, Home Depot has grown into a multinational retailer known for its orange-branded stores and wide assortment of home improvement merchandise.

Home Depot’s core business includes the sale of building materials, lumber, tools, hardware, appliances, paint, plumbing and electrical supplies, lawn and garden products, and home décor.