Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,657 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $7,646,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HD. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in Home Depot by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Home Depot by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after buying an additional 132,967 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $596,140,000 after buying an additional 141,915 shares during the period. United Bank raised its holdings in Home Depot by 4.2% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,079,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of HD stock opened at $352.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $393.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $398.66. 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 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

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.