OFI Invest Asset Management Buys New Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 167,228 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $62,820,000. Home Depot makes up about 1.5% of OFI Invest Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,767,449,000 after purchasing an additional 433,126 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,552,090 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,715,668,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 10.1% in the third 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,030,483 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,253,952,000 after acquiring an additional 409,890 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 7,554,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,925,498,000 after acquiring an additional 599,490 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $376.66 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.77 and a 52 week high of $439.37. The stock has a market cap of $374.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $400.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $399.81.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Home Depot’s 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.