Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 3,810 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 49,639 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,810 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $5,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the third quarter worth $7,598,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the third quarter worth $2,040,000. HM Payson & Co. raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 4.8% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 7,457 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 2.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,746 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 11.4% in the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,595 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PulteGroup

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $266,125.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,026,879.65. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:PHM opened at $103.23 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.54 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $109.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.71.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. As a group, equities analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PHM shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

PulteGroup Company Profile

PulteGroup, Inc, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. It acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. The company also offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhomes, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, and American West brand names.