California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 61,538 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,356,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 61,538 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises about 0.9% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,163,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HD. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,930,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,791 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,506,659,000 after buying an additional 1,207,388 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter valued at $207,210,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Home Depot by 20.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,468,902 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $746,003,000 after acquiring an additional 421,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 220.9% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 447,544 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $135,230,000 after buying an additional 308,091 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock traded up $1.89 on Tuesday, hitting $338.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 293,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,307,361. The company has a market capitalization of $334.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $366.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.19. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. 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 paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HD shares. Piper Sandler upgraded Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $323.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 target price for the company. One equities research 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

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.