North Forty Two & Co. Makes New $458,000 Investment in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,178 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,700,427 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,767,449,000 after acquiring an additional 433,126 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $3,715,668,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 10.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,516,827,000 after buying an additional 795,438 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 5.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,030,483 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,253,952,000 after buying an additional 409,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Home Depot by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 7,554,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,925,498,000 after buying an additional 599,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of HD opened at $349.39 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $396.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $399.40. The company has a market capitalization of $347.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HD shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.50.

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.