Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 45,459 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,295,599 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 45,459 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,281,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Home Depot by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 102 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HD. HSBC raised shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.85.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $357.86 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $389.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.99. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.77 and a 52-week high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.