PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 142,473 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 17,541 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.07% of PulteGroup worth $15,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 390,579 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $42,534,000 after acquiring an additional 39,321 shares during the period. Jackson Hill Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Hill Advisors LLC now owns 160,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,424,000 after purchasing an additional 59,500 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,488,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 19,437 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,117,000 after buying an additional 5,980 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,160,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,980.80. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $266,125.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at $6,026,879.65. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $105.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 7.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $107.89 and a 200-day moving average of $121.60. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $100.35 and a one year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 5.98%.

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.