Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Buys 259,092 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2,892.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 268,051 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 259,092 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises about 2.6% of Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $98,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 563 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 26,918 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $10,471,000 after buying an additional 7,203 shares during the last quarter. Snider Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 1,436 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 12,204 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,747,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $425.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $398.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $470.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.77.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $368.36 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $326.31 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $363.55 and its 200 day moving average is $377.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $366.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.02.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.59 by ($0.03). Home Depot had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 242.51%. The company had revenue of $39.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.42%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Fahim Siddiqui sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.14, for a total value of $954,564.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,919,130.14. This represents a 24.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 5,406 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.28, for a total transaction of $1,996,327.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,413,285.76. This trade represents a 23.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.