Payden & Rygel Sells 2,700 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Payden & Rygel lessened its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,270 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the quarter. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $14,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $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. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after purchasing an additional 875,836 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. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD opened at $353.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $351.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $384.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.15. 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 current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 61.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong 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 $435.85.

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.