Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $44.08 Million Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,325 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,984 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $44,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth about $56,917,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC raised its position in Home Depot by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth about $20,616,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 294,223 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $114,450,000 after purchasing an additional 66,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HD shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Home Depot from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.32.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of HD opened at $372.16 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $357.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $388.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $369.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a PEG 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. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $323.77 and a one year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 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.