Marshall Wace LLP Purchases New Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 87,416 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $13,446,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.12% of Meritage Homes as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH traded down $1.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 725,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 885,247. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.16.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

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.