Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Key Points

• Private Advisor Group LLC significantly reduced its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. by 30.1%, selling 3,135 shares, and now holds a total of 7,273 shares valued at approximately $748,000.
• PulteGroup recently reported earnings with an EPS of $3.03, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.11, despite a 4.3% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• A number of analysts upgraded their ratings on PulteGroup, with Wells Fargo raising its price target from $125.00 to $135.00, indicating positive sentiment around the stock's potential growth.

Private Advisor Group LLC lessened its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 30.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,273 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 3,135 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in PulteGroup were worth $748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 20.5% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 15,388 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,613 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1,311.3% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 312,723 shares of the construction company's stock worth $32,148,000 after buying an additional 290,564 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% in the first quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 41,305 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,246,000 after buying an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 103,800.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,195 shares of the construction company's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 5,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 42.1% in the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 770 shares of the construction company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PHM. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $128.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.15.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PHM traded up $3.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $116.83. The stock had a trading volume of 903,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,157. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $106.55 and a 200-day moving average of $105.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.29. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.07 and a 12-month high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.42 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 21.01%. PulteGroup's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.