FIL Ltd Acquires 27,293 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

FIL Ltd increased its position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS - Free Report) by 57.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,718 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,293 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd's holdings in Masco were worth $5,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Masco in the 3rd quarter worth about $239,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Masco by 49.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 883,859 shares of the construction company's stock worth $74,192,000 after purchasing an additional 291,658 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Masco by 7.3% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 11,860 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 60.9% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 4,688 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Masco by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,914 shares of the construction company's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MAS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Masco from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Masco in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Masco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Masco from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $89.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Masco has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.37.

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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 stock was 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 directly owns 60,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,601,988.12. The trade was a 26.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.78, for a total transaction of $225,317.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 33,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,370,678.06. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Masco Stock Performance

MAS stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,519,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,705,690. The firm has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74. The stock's 50 day moving average is $70.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.20. Masco Co. has a 52 week low of $55.64 and a 52 week high of $86.70.

Masco (NYSE:MAS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 32.98%.

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.