Ariston Services Group Takes $216,000 Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Ariston Services Group bought a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 624 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $4,311,070,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,104,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,791 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,347,596 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,506,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207,388 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,765,587 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,117,016,000 after purchasing an additional 992,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,769,610 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $613,258,000 after purchasing an additional 495,894 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HD. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday, April 1st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,503,123.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Home Depot stock opened at $353.95 on Wednesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. The company has a market capitalization of $350.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $337.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $351.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.02. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,056.67% and a net margin of 9.79%. The firm had revenue of $36.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 60.36%.

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.