Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Down 0.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) fell 0.1% on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $445.00 to $420.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as low as $362.49 and last traded at $362.49. 413,872 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,436,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $362.75.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on HD. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $418.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $450.00 to $410.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $430.32.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Depot

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after acquiring an additional 875,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $8,525,046,000 after purchasing an additional 257,036 shares during the period. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV increased its position in Home Depot by 99,400.7% in the first quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 18,975,772 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $6,954,431,000 after buying an additional 18,956,701 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $5,032,910,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,845,098,000 after buying an additional 647,552 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $359.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $389.39. The company has a market cap of $360.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. This is a positive change from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot's payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.