New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $35.04 Million Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 339,437 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 59,957 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.16% of PulteGroup worth $35,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the construction company's stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 3,102 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 43,391 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,165 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O'meara sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of PHM stock traded up $2.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $113.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,747,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,827,756. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.56. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $64.70 and a one year high of $121.07. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $111.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.81% and a net margin of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.96 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PHM. Oppenheimer increased their price target on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group downgraded PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on PulteGroup from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on PulteGroup from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded PulteGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.73.

PulteGroup Company 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.