Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 88.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,168 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 154,901 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Meritage Homes worth $3,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 3.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,170,062 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $510,374,000 after purchasing an additional 151,946 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 826,791 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $144,027,000 after buying an additional 12,841 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 779,549 shares of the construction company's stock worth $135,797,000 after buying an additional 143,440 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 689,600 shares of the construction company's stock worth $84,400,000 after acquiring an additional 61,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 449,233 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $54,982,000 after acquiring an additional 118,818 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 2.7 %

MTH traded down $5.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $182.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 536,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 415,319. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.75. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $189.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $165.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.19.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.27 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $459,356. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.25.

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.