New England Research & Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 582 The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 582 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HD. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $245,000. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 300.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 8,371 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 6,280 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,602 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $773,000. Finally, Dempze Nancy E boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 9,620 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $344.24 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $338.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $352.74. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.00.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.02. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 1,056.67%. The firm had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.82 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HD. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 25th. DA Davidson raised shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $352.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Wednesday. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

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

Home Depot Company 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.