Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 100 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,800 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 33,536 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,842,000 after buying an additional 13,538 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $3,205,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 48.4% during 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 buying an additional 8,225 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 388.4% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 42,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,140,000 after buying an additional 33,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,029 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,368,000 after buying an additional 14,362 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH opened at $165.05 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $109.23 and a 12-month high of $179.68. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $159.18 and a 200-day moving average of $152.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MTH shares. 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 report on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.67.

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.