Caxton Associates LP Sells 7,571 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Caxton Associates LP lessened its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 53.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,716 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 7,571 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MTH. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE MTH traded down $0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.22. 460,084 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 878,270. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.72.

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.