Investment Partners LTD. Raises Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Investment Partners LTD. raised its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 21,394.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $793,486,000 after buying an additional 2,030,372 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $336,231,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,516,827,000 after acquiring an additional 795,438 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Home Depot by 295.6% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $280,932,000 after purchasing an additional 518,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 37,025.9% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 480,780 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $187,019,000 after purchasing an additional 479,485 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on HD. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of HD stock opened at $396.69 on Monday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $401.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $399.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 61.66%.

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.