New York Life Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,632 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,854 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $3,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 4,717 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,996 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 78,378 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,375 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 3,186 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,186,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,980.80. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on PHM. Seaport Res Ptn cut PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:PHM opened at $103.23 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $109.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.72. The stock has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.54 and a 1 year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

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

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.