Marshall Wace LLP Decreases Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 37.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,568 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 124,614 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.10% of PulteGroup worth $23,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 74.1% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 322 shares of the construction company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 444 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 642.2% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 475 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $151.00 to $141.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.69.

PulteGroup Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of PHM stock traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $101.46. The stock had a trading volume of 462,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,320,677. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a PE ratio of 6.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.07 and a 52-week high of $149.47. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $101.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.25.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.10. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. The business had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. PulteGroup's payout ratio is 6.21%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at $6,026,879.65. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brien P. O'meara sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About PulteGroup

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.