New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,676 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.14% of Meritage Homes worth $8,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush increased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James increased their target price on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 6.8 %

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $205.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 1.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.38. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $109.23 and a 12-month high of $210.58.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.02 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes 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.