Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Trims Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV cut its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,660 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 33 shares during the period. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Home Depot by 33,540.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $509,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,459 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth approximately $513,016,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Home Depot by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,437,805 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,853,143,000 after buying an additional 971,833 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Home Depot during the first quarter valued at $301,364,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 13.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,917,286 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,886,271,000 after acquiring an additional 569,690 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Down 2.0 %

Home Depot stock opened at $406.52 on Tuesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $421.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $386.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $358.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $403.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $410.67.

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.