AIA Group Ltd Sells 17,828 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

AIA Group Ltd reduced its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,164 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 17,828 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up about 1.3% of AIA Group Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $52,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $37,251,142,000 after acquiring an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,767,449,000 after purchasing an additional 433,126 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $5,032,910,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,552,090 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,715,668,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Home Depot by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 7,554,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,925,498,000 after buying an additional 599,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $357.86 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $389.98 and a 200 day moving average of $398.99.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.85.

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.