Avity Investment Management Inc. Purchases 1,072 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,362 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $12,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. Daiwa America upgraded Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.38.

Home Depot Price Performance

HD stock traded up $1.94 on Friday, reaching $411.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,717,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,388,611. The company has a market cap of $409.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $378.34 and its 200 day moving average is $357.28. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $420.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 681.27%. The business had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.57%.

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.