May Hill Capital LLC Invests $633,000 in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,628 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock, valued at approximately $633,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $8,525,046,000 after buying an additional 257,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth about $5,032,910,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,552,090 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,715,668,000 after buying an additional 125,441 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,052,091 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,521,173,000 after acquiring an additional 468,203 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HD. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Home Depot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $435.85.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HD traded up $3.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $359.00. The stock had a trading volume of 3,474,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,445,440. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company's 50 day moving average price is $386.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $398.35. The firm has a market cap of $356.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $2.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.