HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 97,980 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,019,204 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 97,980 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of Home Depot worth $396,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HD shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities upgraded Home Depot to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $436.50.

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Home Depot Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $368.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $366.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. 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 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37. The business's 50 day moving average is $399.50 and its 200 day moving average is $400.03.

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. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. Home Depot's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.66%.

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.

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