PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 339,437 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 59,957 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $35,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,726,368 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $591,076,000 after acquiring an additional 24,350 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,484,469 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $406,125,000 after purchasing an additional 95,945 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 13.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,432,965 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $328,261,000 after purchasing an additional 522,032 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 2.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,115,877 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $230,731,000 after purchasing an additional 61,953 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,003,713 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $310,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,466 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PHM. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up previously from $120.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.73.

Insider Activity

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

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE PHM opened at $111.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.56. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $121.07.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.81% and a net margin of 16.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. On average, analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.96 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.