Kovack Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,328 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,991 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up 0.6% of Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $4,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HD. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the third quarter worth $64,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HD shares. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock traded up $3.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $335.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,464,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,354,161. The firm has a market cap of $332.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $364.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $340.68.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

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.