Marshall Wace LLP Acquires 348,553 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,015,641 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 348,553 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.73% of Lennar worth $302,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LEN. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 428.9% in the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $362,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,447 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 15.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $452,886,000 after purchasing an additional 396,951 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the first quarter worth $61,807,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennar by 157.5% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 575,003 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $98,889,000 after buying an additional 351,698 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Lennar in the first quarter valued at $28,998,000. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Trading Up 2.0 %

LEN opened at $185.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Lennar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.90 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $177.07 and its 200 day moving average is $164.16.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a net margin of 11.58% and a return on equity of 15.93%. The business had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.72.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company's homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties.