United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 189,067 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 24,079 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $73,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $37,251,142,000 after purchasing an additional 875,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $8,525,046,000 after acquiring an additional 257,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,032,910,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,552,090 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,715,668,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,052,091 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,521,173,000 after purchasing an additional 468,203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $356.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $374.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $395.67. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $354.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) 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. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Gordon Haskett downgraded Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.08.

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.