Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Home Depot (NYSE:HD)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 40,186 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 76% compared to the average volume of 22,813 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Depot

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth $5,032,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 21,394.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $793,486,000 after buying an additional 2,030,372 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Home Depot by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,726,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $471,189,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $436.50.

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Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock traded down $15.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $347.42. 6,989,679 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,449,029. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $399.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $399.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $345.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. Home Depot has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.66%.

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.

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