JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $270.46 Million Stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,726,902 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 252,947 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.73% of Masco worth $270,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Masco in the third quarter valued at approximately $470,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Masco by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 465,848 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,103,000 after acquiring an additional 40,731 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Masco by 4,498.9% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 8,094 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 7,918 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 10.8% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 15,488 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Masco by 8.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,215 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MAS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Masco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer raised Masco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Masco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Masco from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.32.

Masco Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Masco stock opened at $68.63 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. Masco Co. has a 52 week low of $63.81 and a 52 week high of $86.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.92. 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 (NYSE:MAS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Masco’s payout ratio is presently 32.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.