Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 42,460 Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 42,460 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $6,531,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.06% of Meritage Homes as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 65.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Vision Capital Corp purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth $13,893,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,504 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,564,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.25.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $72.74. The stock had a trading volume of 405,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 825,276. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.93 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.54. The stock has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Meritage Homes Company 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.