Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. Takes Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,755 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,072,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 21,394.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $793,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,372 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Home Depot by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,726,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,857 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $471,189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Home Depot from $470.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Home Depot from $450.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.32.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.6 %

HD opened at $364.79 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $358.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $389.10. 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 has a market cap of $362.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05.

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. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Home Depot’s payout ratio 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.