Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 685,249 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Home Depot worth $266,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $793,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,372 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter valued at approximately $336,231,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 795,438 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 7,554,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,925,498,000 after purchasing an additional 599,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities upgraded Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD opened at $364.82 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $399.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $399.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.77 and a 52-week high of $439.37.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. 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. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.66%.

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.