Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Reduces Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 592,290 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 28,482 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $61,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth $703,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,342,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 3,374 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 3,463.6% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 392 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Ellis Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 25,783 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on PHM shares. Citigroup upped their price target on PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.47.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:PHM opened at $105.96 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $61.74 and a one year high of $121.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. The company 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 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.81%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About PulteGroup

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.