Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Decreases Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB reduced its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 61.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,947 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 3,150 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in PulteGroup were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 145.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,098 shares of the construction company's stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 1,059.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 313 shares of the construction company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 463 shares of the construction company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,639 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,393,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 574,274 shares of the construction company's stock worth $82,426,000 after acquiring an additional 6,319 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Price Performance

PulteGroup stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $107.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,519,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,329,279. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm's 50 day moving average is $112.63 and its 200 day moving average is $126.12. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $100.24 and a one year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PHM shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 56,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,026,879.65. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brien P. O'meara sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $372,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,209,980.80. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

PulteGroup Profile

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.