Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 71.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 207,297 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 86,601 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Home Depot were worth $80,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after purchasing an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $8,525,046,000 after purchasing an additional 257,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Home Depot by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,845,098,000 after acquiring an additional 647,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Home Depot by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,726,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,857 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.5%

HD opened at $379.03 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $358.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $387.85. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. This is a boost from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot's payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $470.00 to $410.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. HSBC raised shares of Home Depot from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Home Depot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Home Depot from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $410.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $430.32.

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.

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