Marshall Wace LLP Lowers Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Marshall Wace LLP cut its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 212,568 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 124,614 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $23,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Logan Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 67.7% in the third quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,797 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,976 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 929.2% in the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 20,574 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 18,575 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 42,241 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,600,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 142,740 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,544,000 after purchasing an additional 6,243 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,727. This trade represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of PHM opened at $94.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.45, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $102.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PHM. UBS Group increased their price objective on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $117.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.21.

PulteGroup 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.