Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Invests $270,000 in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 784 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HD. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in Home Depot by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,963 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. STAR Financial Bank increased its position in Home Depot by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 3,944 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,367,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Talisman Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 1.2% during the first quarter. Talisman Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,385 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alesco Advisors LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC now owns 911 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,503,123.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $348.62. 2,313,651 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,403,096. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $347.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $353.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $345.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.65 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 1,056.67%. Home Depot’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 60.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on Home Depot from $411.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.00.

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.