Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Decreases Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lessened its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 195,071 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,484 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for approximately 4.0% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $75,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HD. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its position in Home Depot by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 563 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Capital & Planning LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 110.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its position in Home Depot by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 34,564 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $13,445,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $992,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HD. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC raised shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.32.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.6%

HD opened at $380.74 on Monday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37. The company has a market cap of $378.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. 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 is $358.12 and its 200-day moving average is $387.95.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given 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 was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.