Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Sells 291,428 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 99.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 660 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 291,428 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $626,777,000 after buying an additional 26,889 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $101,695,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Meritage Homes by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 571,120 shares of the construction company's stock worth $87,850,000 after purchasing an additional 217,618 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,910,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 405,854 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $62,429,000 after buying an additional 3,219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.69.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of MTH stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.48. 159,126 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 884,431. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.06 EPS. Meritage Homes's revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 14.06%.

Meritage Homes Company 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.