Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 103.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,476 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,420 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 246.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $66.97. 1,023,614 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 874,133. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Meritage Homes Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 14.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.06 EPS. The business's revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.06%.

About Meritage Homes

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.