PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Position Reduced by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,510,098 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 344,042 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.74% of PulteGroup worth $164,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nilsine Partners LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 929.2% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 20,574 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 18,575 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 42,241 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,600,000 after buying an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its position in PulteGroup by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 142,740 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,544,000 after buying an additional 6,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 416.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after buying an additional 10,299 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $1,617,841.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of PHM stock opened at $102.57 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.07 and a twelve month high of $149.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.23. 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 $20.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.37.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.10. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. The business had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

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

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.69.

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.