The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Bought by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 979 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $13,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,311,070,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth approximately $513,016,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,765,587 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,117,016,000 after purchasing an additional 992,444 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Home Depot by 15.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,437,805 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,853,143,000 after purchasing an additional 971,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Home Depot during the first quarter worth approximately $301,364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Daiwa America raised Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.79.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of HD traded up $2.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $363.92. 74,896 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,394,458. The company has a market cap of $360.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $356.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $354.11.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 681.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 60.36%.

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.