Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Boosts Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 59.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,164,342 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 431,840 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.12% of Home Depot worth $452,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HD. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,758 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $9,242,000 after buying an additional 3,873 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in Home Depot by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $5,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Investors L.L.C. bought a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HD traded down $11.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $343.67. 980,225 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,461,321. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The firm has a market cap of $341.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $369.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $394.08. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $2.30 dividend. This is a boost from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot's payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Home Depot from $437.00 to $391.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Home Depot from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $434.08.

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.