London Co. of Virginia Decreases Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

London Co. of Virginia lowered its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,503 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 5,480 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia's holdings in Home Depot were worth $85,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HD. LifePlan Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. LifePlan Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 905 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,549,000. Lionshead Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $909,000. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,361,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,941,275 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $755,296,000 after buying an additional 32,515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of HD traded down $1.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $372.16. The company had a trading volume of 2,587,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,424,203. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $357.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $388.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company has a market capitalization of $369.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. This is an increase from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot's payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HD. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Home Depot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. HSBC raised shares of Home Depot from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised Home Depot from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $435.00 to $418.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $430.32.

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.