Bailard Inc. Raises Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 86,842 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up 0.9% of Bailard Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $33,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 21,394.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $793,486,000 after buying an additional 2,030,372 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $336,231,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,516,827,000 after buying an additional 795,438 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Home Depot by 295.6% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $280,932,000 after buying an additional 518,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 37,025.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 480,780 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $187,019,000 after buying an additional 479,485 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Trading Up 1.6 %

HD stock opened at $396.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $394.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $401.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $399.06. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.77 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.