Benjamin Edwards Inc. Invests $300,000 in M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,425 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of M.D.C. by 3.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 110,424 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,553,000 after buying an additional 4,004 shares during the period. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of M.D.C. during the third quarter valued at $300,000. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ raised its position in M.D.C. by 4.4% during the third quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 24,528 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in M.D.C. by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,491 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in M.D.C. by 6.9% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,048 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. 88.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at M.D.C.

In other news, Director David E. Blackford sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.69, for a total value of $388,678.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $848,446.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MDC shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of M.D.C. in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of M.D.C. in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded M.D.C. from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.13.

M.D.C. Stock Performance

NYSE MDC remained flat at $62.98 during trading on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.85 and its 200 day moving average is $55.45. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.47 and a 12-month high of $63.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 9.76 and a quick ratio of 3.92.

M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.06. M.D.C. had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 8.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About M.D.C.

M.DC Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the homebuilding and financial service businesses. Its homebuilding operations include purchasing finished lots or developing lots for the construction and sale primarily of single-family detached homes to first-time and first-time move-up homebuyers under the Richmond American Homes name.