M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) Shares Sold by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board decreased its holdings in M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,130 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.14% of M.D.C. worth $3,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in M.D.C. during the 4th quarter worth about $263,371,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of M.D.C. by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,583,094 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $180,509,000 after buying an additional 95,947 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of M.D.C. by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,292,145 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $205,703,000 after buying an additional 200,972 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of M.D.C. by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,516,458 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $95,223,000 after buying an additional 63,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of M.D.C. by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,823,261 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $70,871,000 after buying an additional 197,547 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at M.D.C.

In other M.D.C. news, Director Michael A. Berman sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.15, for a total value of $767,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,085 shares in the company, valued at $997,137.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Larry A. Mizel sold 1,322,697 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total transaction of $58,476,434.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 115,712 shares in the company, valued at $5,115,627.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael A. Berman sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.15, for a total transaction of $767,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,137.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,382,941 shares of company stock worth $61,414,904 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on M.D.C. from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Wedbush upped their price objective on M.D.C. from $28.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of M.D.C. in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on M.D.C. in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.17.

M.D.C. Stock Down 7.2 %

M.D.C. stock opened at $44.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.72. The company has a current ratio of 9.07, a quick ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.04 and a twelve month high of $51.94.

M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $939.10 million. M.D.C. had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 7.74%. M.D.C.’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

M.D.C. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 9th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. This is a positive change from M.D.C.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. M.D.C.’s dividend payout ratio is 40.89%.

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.