Conning Inc. Cuts Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Conning Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 109,135 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 4,005 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises approximately 1.3% of Conning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $37,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 48,688 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $16,873,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. S. R. Schill & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. S. R. Schill & Associates now owns 997 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 3,296 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Keene & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 1,409 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 14,111 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,891,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $386.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.35.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $337.93 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $369.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $338.82. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The firm has a market cap of $334.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,339.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.