M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 869,143 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the previous session’s volume of 1,895,440 shares.The stock last traded at $62.98 and had previously closed at $62.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MDC. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of M.D.C. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of M.D.C. in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI cut M.D.C. from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.13.

M.D.C. Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 9.76 and a quick ratio of 3.92.

M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. M.D.C. had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 8.64%. M.D.C.’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other M.D.C. news, Director David E. Blackford sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.69, for a total value of $388,678.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,534 shares in the company, valued at $848,446.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in M.D.C. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 34,954 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in M.D.C. by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 15,308 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Arden Trust Co lifted its position in M.D.C. by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Arden Trust Co now owns 4,570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in M.D.C. by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its stake in M.D.C. by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 5,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.08% of the company’s stock.

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.