China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,432 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,751 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up about 0.7% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $6,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Traynor Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Home Depot by 2.7% in the third quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 45,345 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $18,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Home Depot by 1.1% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 15,325 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,210,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 6.6% in the third quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,745 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 1.8% in the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Home Depot by 77.4% in the third quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,668 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $395.10 on Wednesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.96 and a 12-month high of $421.56. The company has a market capitalization of $391.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $391.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $360.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a return on equity of 681.27% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $43.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.65 earnings per share. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 60.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.48.

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.