State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $197.03 Million Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 568,534 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 5,455 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises approximately 0.7% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $197,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Home Depot during the third quarter valued at $64,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE HD traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $331.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,786,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,364,632. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $365.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $340.46. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87. The stock has a market cap of $328.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer downgraded Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wedbush raised their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Home Depot 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.