Millstone Evans Group LLC Invests $115,000 in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,058 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 622 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,224 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,384 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,050 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PHM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367 in the last 90 days. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PHM stock opened at $103.04 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $100.35 and a one year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. On average, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.