Miller Financial Services LLC Purchases New Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Miller Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 790 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sollinda Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 59,900 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $23,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,243,912 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $483,869,000 after purchasing an additional 6,437 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,359 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverbend Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $944,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.7 %

HD opened at $374.13 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $399.91 and a 200-day moving average of $400.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $371.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HD. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

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.