The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Position Boosted by Weil Company Inc.

Weil Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,074 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Weil Company Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in Home Depot by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $368,542,000 after buying an additional 132,967 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Home Depot by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,291,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $1,793,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 673,876 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $273,055,000 after buying an additional 84,062 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $433.44.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD opened at $393.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $390.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $401.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $398.48.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

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.