Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 37,730 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,858 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 37,730 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of PulteGroup worth $15,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the 4th quarter valued at $163,931,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,850,407 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $203,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101,565 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,003,713 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $310,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,466 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,651,100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $152,982,000 after acquiring an additional 972,310 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,289,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Down 1.9 %

PHM opened at $108.79 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $110.24 and a 200 day moving average of $97.48. The company has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.56. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.95 and a 12 month high of $121.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 25.97%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.81%.

PulteGroup announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

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.