Artemis Investment Management LLP Sells 57,717 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,983 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 57,717 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned about 0.30% of Meritage Homes worth $22,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 718,607 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $116,307,000 after buying an additional 17,843 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 523,332 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $91,164,000 after acquiring an additional 26,682 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 490,660 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $86,091,000 after acquiring an additional 58,350 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 315,931 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $51,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 227,300 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,900 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,837,936.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $196.42 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $194.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.12. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $213.98. The company has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.