Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stock Position in MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG - Free Report) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in MGIC Investment were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,092,453 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $232,767,000 after buying an additional 73,851 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,495,115 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $130,289,000 after purchasing an additional 415,586 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MGIC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,908,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in MGIC Investment by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,837,821 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,575,000 after buying an additional 190,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MGIC Investment by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,647,936 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $39,072,000 after buying an additional 26,098 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MTG. Compass Point restated a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $24.00) on shares of MGIC Investment in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MGIC Investment from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded MGIC Investment from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.75.

Insider Transactions at MGIC Investment

In other MGIC Investment news, CAO Julie K. Sperber sold 4,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $112,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 75,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,842,968.50. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MGIC Investment Stock Down 4.3 %

NYSE:MTG traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.26. The company had a trading volume of 912,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,781,767. MGIC Investment Co. has a twelve month low of $19.26 and a twelve month high of $26.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 1.28. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $24.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.68.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The insurance provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. MGIC Investment had a return on equity of 14.86% and a net margin of 63.18%. On average, equities analysts expect that MGIC Investment Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MGIC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. MGIC Investment's dividend payout ratio is 17.93%.

MGIC Investment Company Profile

MGIC Investment Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance, other mortgage credit risk management solutions, and ancillary services to lenders and government sponsored entities in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The company offers primary mortgage insurance that provides mortgage default protection on individual loans, as well as covers unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest, and various expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure.