The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Stake Raised by Cornerstone Capital Inc.

Cornerstone Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,364 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for about 2.0% of Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $17,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,730,889,000 after acquiring an additional 153,141 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,104,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,506,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207,388 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 11.3% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,418,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,904,000 after acquiring an additional 346,641 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.7% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,483,454 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $750,448,000 after acquiring an additional 17,224 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on HD. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.9 %

HD stock opened at $335.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $364.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.97. The firm has a market cap of $332.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

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.