New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Boosts Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 15.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 60,692 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Home Depot comprises 0.8% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $23,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Bey Douglas LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $913,000. Hartline Investment Corp boosted its position in Home Depot by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 15,574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Wolf Group Capital Advisors boosted its position in Home Depot by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $253,000. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Home Depot by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 8,153 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Home Depot stock traded up $2.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $344.24. 6,344,192 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,519,389. The company has a market capitalization of $341.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.00. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $338.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $352.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $36.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.65 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 1,056.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 60.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 25th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Home Depot from $411.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,503,123.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.