Sanctuary Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,762 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 14,537 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of PulteGroup worth $12,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 17.2% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 565 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in PulteGroup by 1.7% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 5,002 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 3.0% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in PulteGroup by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 622 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE PHM opened at $105.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $112.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.93. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The company has a market cap of $21.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.18, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.43 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $1,617,841.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.86.

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.