Patten & Patten Inc. TN Sells 496 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN decreased its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,639 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 496 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN owned approximately 0.05% of PulteGroup worth $11,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,636,562 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $180,775,000 after purchasing an additional 716,716 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,485,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 357.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,917,000 after purchasing an additional 407,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PHM. StockNews.com cut PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

PulteGroup Price Performance

PHM opened at $103.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.54 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The firm has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 5.98%.

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

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.