Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 863,940 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 164,121 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of Home Depot worth $336,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 102 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on HD shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, HSBC upgraded Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $352.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50-day moving average is $393.97 and its 200 day moving average is $399.14. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. 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 company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. 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%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.66%.

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.