Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 32.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,551 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 5,333 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Home Depot were worth $8,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 21,394.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,030,372 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Home Depot by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $37,251,142,000 after acquiring an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Home Depot by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 7,554,880 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $2,925,498,000 after acquiring an additional 599,490 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $435.85.

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Home Depot Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE HD traded down $15.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $355.77. 5,402,816 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,444,510. The company has a market cap of $353.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $386.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $398.35. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $323.77 and a one year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. This is an increase from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot's payout ratio is presently 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.