Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Makes New $336.23 Million Investment in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 829,790 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $336,231,000. Home Depot comprises approximately 0.8% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HD. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $429.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $308.59 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The stock has a market cap of $426.77 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $405.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $370.41.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.14%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.