Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lessened its position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 402,577 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 42,882 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.19% of Masco worth $29,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Masco by 1.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Masco by 10.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Masco by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,997,839 shares of the construction company's stock worth $218,063,000 after purchasing an additional 520,555 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Masco by 2.0% during the 4th 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, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Masco by 8.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 922,566 shares of the construction company's stock worth $77,440,000 after acquiring an additional 73,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Masco from $80.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Zelman & Associates raised Masco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Masco from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer raised Masco from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $89.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Masco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.32.

Masco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MAS traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,361,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,490,894. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.82. Masco Co. has a 12-month low of $63.81 and a 12-month 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 company has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24.

Masco (NYSE:MAS - Get Free Report) last released 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. This is a boost from Masco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Masco's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the company'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 value of $1,658,768.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 60,267 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.