Eastern Bank Acquires Shares of 123,475 PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 123,475 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $12,745,000. Eastern Bank owned approximately 0.06% of PulteGroup at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,748,609 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,162,667,000 after acquiring an additional 261,934 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in PulteGroup by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,343,160 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $604,439,000 after acquiring an additional 228,040 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,726,368 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $591,076,000 after acquiring an additional 24,350 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in PulteGroup by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,484,469 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $406,125,000 after acquiring an additional 95,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in PulteGroup by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,850,407 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $203,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O'meara sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PulteGroup stock traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $115.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,679,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,805,521. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.26 and a 12-month high of $121.07. The company has a market capitalization of $24.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $109.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.88.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 25.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup's payout ratio is 6.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PHM. UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.47.

PulteGroup Profile

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.