83,213 Shares in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Bought by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 83,213 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $12,402,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Lennar by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,544,345 shares of the construction company's stock worth $734,477,000 after acquiring an additional 366,983 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,681,233 shares of the construction company's stock worth $399,611,000 after purchasing an additional 79,217 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lennar by 551.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $191,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544,432 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,700,016 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $253,319,000 after buying an additional 72,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lennar by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,542,363 shares of the construction company's stock worth $173,099,000 after buying an additional 6,803 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Lennar Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:LEN traded up $3.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $159.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,042,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,104,633. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $159.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.44. The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $102.90 and a 12 month high of $172.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.53.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.36. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The business had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $163.88.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company's homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties.