Bay Capital Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 798 The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Bay Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 798 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc increased its stake in Home Depot by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,535,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,758 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $9,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,873 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in Home Depot by 51.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted 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 valued at $5,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at $1,793,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Home Depot to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the 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.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Home Depot stock traded down $4.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $357.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,979,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,449,521. The company has a 50-day moving average of $389.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $398.60. 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 fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The company has a market cap of $355.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Home Depot's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot's payout ratio is 61.66%.

Home Depot Company 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.