Marshall Wace LLP Takes Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 87,416 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $13,446,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.12% of Meritage Homes as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth 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. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MTH traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $68.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,692,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 889,956. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.57. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.69.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.