Allianz Asset Management GmbH Sells 34,760 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 210,146 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 34,760 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.29% of Meritage Homes worth $32,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 125.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 509 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.25.

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Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock traded down $1.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $73.10. 694,290 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 942,739. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.88. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $71.05 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes 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.