Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,208 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises 0.1% of Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 3,974 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $814,000. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 2,677 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 69.7% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,317 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HD shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD traded up $3.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $335.09. The stock had a trading volume of 2,465,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,779,238. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $364.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.97.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Insider Activity

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

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.