Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,310 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 261 shares during the quarter. Home Depot accounts for about 1.5% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $10,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% in the third 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 buying an additional 8,762,735 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 33,540.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $509,081,000 after buying an additional 1,474,459 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter worth approximately $513,016,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 15.0% in the first 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 buying an additional 971,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter worth approximately $301,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Daiwa America raised shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $416.52.

Home Depot Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE HD opened at $399.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $393.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $363.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $396.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.01. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $286.79 and a 52 week high of $421.56.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $43.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 733.61%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

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

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.