Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,957 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 33,536 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,842,000 after purchasing an additional 13,538 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,205,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,235 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,396,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Meritage Homes by 388.4% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 42,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,140,000 after acquiring an additional 33,400 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 38.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,029 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,368,000 after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.2 %

Meritage Homes stock opened at $181.03 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $183.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $163.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.71.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Meritage Homes Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.