Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 13,325,342 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,885,603,000. Home Depot makes up about 0.6% of Norges Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Centerpoint Advisory Group lifted its position in Home Depot by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group now owns 3,163 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% in the second quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. now owns 1,178 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 4.7% in the second quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.5% during the first quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BWM Planning LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. BWM Planning LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on HD. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Home Depot from $445.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $399.00 to $348.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $444.00 to $423.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $362.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.60.

Home Depot Stock Up 1.4%

HD opened at $356.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $354.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $379.77 and a 200 day moving average of $380.66. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $326.31 and a 12 month high of $436.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.83 by ($0.09). Home Depot had a return on equity of 193.99% and a net margin of 8.86%.The company had revenue of $41.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Home Depot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.478-14.478 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 62.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Home Depot news, EVP William D. Bastek sold 2,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.12, for a total transaction of $974,445.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,254,313.20. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Home Depot

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.