Lynx Investment Advisory Purchases 272 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 51.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 800 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HD. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 17.8% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Home Depot by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $368,542,000 after purchasing an additional 132,967 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Home Depot by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,471,223 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $596,140,000 after purchasing an additional 141,915 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 4.2% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 4,458 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,806,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter valued at approximately $649,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.0 %

HD opened at $352.12 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company has a market capitalization of $349.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.77 and a 52 week high of $439.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $393.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $399.14.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $2.30 dividend. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HD shares. KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.50.

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.