Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys Shares of 121,648 The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 121,648 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $47,320,000. Home Depot comprises approximately 1.2% of Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its stake in Home Depot by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after acquiring an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Home Depot by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,758 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,873 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its stake in Home Depot by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Home Depot by 17.1% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $368,542,000 after acquiring an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Home Depot by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD opened at $354.06 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $396.73 and a 200-day moving average of $399.54. The company has a market capitalization of $351.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37. 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) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The company 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 company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HD. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Home Depot from $455.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.50.

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.