Valmark Advisers Inc. Buys 1,350 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,004 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $3,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HD. Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.8% in the second quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 3.9% in the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,476 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,606,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 3.8% in the second quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 12,665 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 58.9% in the second quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 17,922 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,169,000 after buying an additional 6,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCG Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 29.5% in the second quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HD shares. Daiwa America raised shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $386.33.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $368.50. 3,216,660 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,501,517. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $355.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.95. The company has a market cap of $366.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $43.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 681.27%. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.36%.

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.