Rakuten Securities Inc. Makes New $182,000 Investment in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 526 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $182,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Guidance Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Sfmg LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 5,379 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Quantum Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,827 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,099,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $366,000. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,084,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $332.83 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The company has a market cap of $329.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $368.54 and a 200-day moving average of $339.01. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer cut shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays upgraded shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

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.