Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 74.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,517 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,428 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $165,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PHM. Creative Planning lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,639 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,393,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,624 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,565 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,943 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the period. Finally, Axecap Investments LLC bought a new position in PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,975,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In related news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,727. This trade represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367 in the last three months. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE PHM opened at $105.80 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.13 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $21.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $111.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

PulteGroup declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PHM. StockNews.com cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.86.

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.