State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 2,699 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,927 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,699 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $169.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.90. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.95. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One research 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.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

About Meritage Homes

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.