Elk River Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Elk River Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 84,349 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. PulteGroup comprises about 1.7% of Elk River Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Elk River Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $9,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 4.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,639 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,393,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in PulteGroup by 5.0% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,319 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 8.3% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,624 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,817,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 6.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,565 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the third quarter worth about $12,673,000. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on PHM shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PHM opened at $104.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.77. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

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.