VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Lowers Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 15.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 51,190 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 9,500 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $20,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in Home Depot during the second quarter worth about $29,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in Home Depot in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Dougherty Wealth Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 12,320 shares in the company, valued at $4,413,763.20. This trade represents a 1.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 2,872 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.52, for a total value of $1,000,949.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,599,069.92. The trade was a 17.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 4,963 shares of company stock worth $1,748,845 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HD. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Truist Financial set a $390.00 price target on Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $413.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $405.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.10.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.7%

HD opened at $344.06 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $326.31 and a 12 month high of $426.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $357.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $377.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $342.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 1.08.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 18th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.83 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $41.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.06 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 160.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Home Depot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.478-14.478 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th were given a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 62.71%.

About Home Depot

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.