Blueshift Asset Management LLC Invests $309,000 in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 4,258 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Masco by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,294,294 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $864,103,000 after purchasing an additional 194,297 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised 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 valued at $235,881,000 after buying an additional 299,520 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Masco by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,997,839 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $218,063,000 after buying an additional 520,555 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Masco by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,016,079 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $73,737,000 after buying an additional 20,129 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Masco by 49.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 883,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,192,000 after acquiring an additional 291,658 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Masco Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Masco stock opened at $69.65 on Friday. Masco Co. has a 1 year low of $63.81 and a 1 year high of $86.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.18.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Masco had a net margin of 10.50% and a return on equity of 838.32%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MAS shares. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Citigroup dropped their target price on Masco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Masco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer upgraded Masco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Masco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Masco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.32.

Masco 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.