William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Makes New $6.93 Million Investment in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,135 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,931,000. Home Depot accounts for 4.5% of William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,372 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 845 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. STAR Financial Bank grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 3,944 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Talisman Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Talisman Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,385 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock opened at $399.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $396.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $368.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $354.90. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $403.54.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $43.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HD. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Daiwa America raised shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $377.00 to $363.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.88.

Home Depot 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.