PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Shares Purchased by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 490,044 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,259 shares during the period. PulteGroup accounts for 0.9% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.23% of PulteGroup worth $50,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 24,350 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 95,945 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,432,965 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $328,261,000 after buying an additional 522,032 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,115,877 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $230,731,000 after buying an additional 61,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,003,713 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $310,043,000 after buying an additional 1,060,466 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O'meara sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PHM shares. Citigroup upped their target price on PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group lowered PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.47.

PulteGroup Trading Up 1.5 %

PHM traded up $1.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $107.02. 2,698,574 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,803,266. The firm's fifty day moving average is $110.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.67. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.35 and a 1-year high of $121.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.56.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. PulteGroup's revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.81%.

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.