Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 283 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,306 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up approximately 1.1% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $6,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the second quarter valued at $33,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE HD traded down $3.56 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $361.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 402,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,399,301. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $356.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $354.06. The company has a market capitalization of $358.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a return on equity of 681.27% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 60.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC cut their price objective on Home Depot from $323.00 to $318.00 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Home Depot from $395.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.79.

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.