5,160 Shares in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Bought by XTX Topco Ltd

XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,160 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 78.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,102 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 18.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 211,043 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,279,000 after buying an additional 32,810 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Castellan Group raised its position in Meritage Homes by 5.0% in the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 31,981 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth $16,056,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of MTH stock traded up $2.77 on Tuesday, reaching $67.29. 184,654 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 878,801. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. As a group, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MTH. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Company 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.