Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,927 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,699 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.05% of Meritage Homes worth $3,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.3% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 6.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,979 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 5.2% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 2,438 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 3.3% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of MTH opened at $169.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $159.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.95. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $179.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 19.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.99%.

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.