Cypress Capital Group Sells 123 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Cypress Capital Group lessened its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,140 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in PulteGroup by 108.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,430 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 8,555 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $245,000. Shell Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 135.5% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 8,932 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter valued at about $246,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on PHM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their target price on PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. This trade represents a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total transaction of $9,573,873.81. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at $12,043,420.09. This represents a 44.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PulteGroup Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PHM opened at $128.06 on Thursday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.59 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $26.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $137.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.67.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.90 EPS. PulteGroup’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.90%.

PulteGroup Company 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.