The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Stock Position Reduced by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 16.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,250,140 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 655,539 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.33% of Home Depot worth $1,351,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 51,250.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $35,575,880,000 after buying an additional 8,762,735 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 33,540.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $509,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,459 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $336,231,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,516,827,000 after purchasing an additional 795,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in Home Depot by 95.2% during the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,139,934 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $392,411,000 after purchasing an additional 556,053 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $459.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE HD traded up $2.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $416.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,615,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,371,862. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.77 and a 52-week high of $439.37. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $411.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $377.35.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.81 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.14%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Company 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.