Plato Investment Management Ltd Has $985,000 Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Plato Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,945 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 389 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at $26,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new position in PulteGroup in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,814,039 in the last quarter. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PHM has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.14.

PulteGroup Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $139.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $29.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.62. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.80 and a 12 month high of $140.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 16.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.41%.

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.