Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 32.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,725 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 11,931 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 235.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.69.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $68.71 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.50. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $69.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.84.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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