Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 468,203 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,052,091 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 468,203 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up approximately 1.2% of Alliancebernstein L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.91% of Home Depot worth $3,521,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $5,032,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 21,394.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $793,486,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030,372 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after acquiring an additional 875,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 7,554,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,925,498,000 after purchasing an additional 599,490 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.85.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.3 %

HD stock opened at $357.86 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $389.98 and its 200-day moving average is $398.99.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.