AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Reduces Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 727,765 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 66,173 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for approximately 1.5% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.07% of Home Depot worth $294,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $35,575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,515,343 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,931,328,000 after purchasing an additional 100,139 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,437,805 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,853,143,000 after purchasing an additional 971,833 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,774,083 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,980,883,000 after purchasing an additional 138,396 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,917,286 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,886,271,000 after purchasing an additional 569,690 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE HD opened at $392.53 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $286.79 and a 12 month high of $421.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $389.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $392.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $361.63.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 681.27%. The company had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.65 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 60.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HD. Daiwa America raised shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.48.

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.