Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires New Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 526 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $182,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Home Depot during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,933,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Home Depot in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the first quarter worth approximately $1,554,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its position in Home Depot by 7.4% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 14,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Home Depot by 3.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $236,865,000 after acquiring an additional 24,640 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $332.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $329.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $396.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $368.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $339.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on HD shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $323.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

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.