Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Has $75.88 Million Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 195,071 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,484 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises 4.0% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $75,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,758 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,242,000 after buying an additional 3,873 shares during the period. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth approximately $409,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $3,193,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in Home Depot by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 6,173 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Home Depot from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.32.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $380.74 on Monday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $323.77 and a one year high of $439.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $358.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $387.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $378.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. 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.