Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 45,875 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,636 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Masco were worth $3,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Masco by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,451 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 5,643 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 676,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $49,083,000 after purchasing an additional 223,212 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 101,190 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,343,000 after purchasing an additional 10,616 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 11,530 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Masco during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Masco in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Masco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Masco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Masco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Masco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.32.

Masco Stock Down 1.1 %

Masco stock opened at $69.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. Masco Co. has a 12 month low of $63.81 and a 12 month high of $86.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Masco had a return on equity of 838.32% and a net margin of 10.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Masco’s payout ratio is currently 32.98%.

Insider Transactions at Masco

In other news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of Masco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.36, for a total value of $1,658,768.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,601,988.12. The trade was a 26.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Renee Straber sold 3,139 shares of Masco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.78, for a total value of $225,317.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 33,027 shares in the company, valued at $2,370,678.06. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Masco Company Profile

Masco Corporation designs, manufactures, and distributes home improvement and building products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company's Plumbing Products segment offers faucets, showerheads, handheld showers, valves, bath hardware and accessories, bathing units, shower bases and enclosures, sinks, toilets, acrylic tubs, shower trays, spas, exercise pools, and fitness systems; brass, copper, and composite plumbing system components; connected water products; thermoplastic solutions, extruded plastic profiles, specialized fabrications, and PEX tubing products; and other non-decorative plumbing products.