First Merchants Corp Has $10.16 Million Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

First Merchants Corp boosted its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,517 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $10,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 25th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $352.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $386.33.

Home Depot Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HD traded up $10.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $375.59. 3,426,154 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,446,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.34. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $396.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $372.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $353.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $353.65.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $43.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,056.67% and a net margin of 9.79%. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.36%.

Home Depot 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.