California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 370,030 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 30,983 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of PulteGroup worth $40,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 5.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 4th quarter valued at $427,562,000. Amundi lifted its position in PulteGroup by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,636,562 shares of the construction company's stock worth $180,775,000 after buying an additional 716,716 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in PulteGroup by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,119 shares of the construction company's stock worth $155,856,000 after buying an additional 129,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,351,491 shares of the construction company's stock worth $147,177,000 after buying an additional 19,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, 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 transaction, the vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,727. The trade was a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PHM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their target price on PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of PHM traded down $5.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $96.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,507,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,675. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company's 50-day moving average is $105.68 and its 200-day moving average is $119.58. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.14 and a 52-week high of $149.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.53, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (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, equities research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.98%.

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.