Moran Wealth Management LLC Invests $11.87 Million in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 163,576 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,871,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MAS. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Masco by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,294,294 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $864,103,000 after acquiring an additional 194,297 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Masco by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,250,400 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $235,881,000 after purchasing an additional 299,520 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Masco by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,997,839 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $218,063,000 after purchasing an additional 520,555 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Masco by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,016,079 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $73,737,000 after buying an additional 20,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Masco by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 922,566 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,440,000 after buying an additional 73,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Masco

In other news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,601,988.12. This represents a 26.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Masco Price Performance

Masco stock opened at $75.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.75. Masco Co. has a 52 week low of $63.81 and a 52 week high of $86.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.15 and a 200-day moving average of $78.76.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Masco from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Masco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.32.

About Masco

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.