3,918 Shares in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) Acquired by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,918 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $864,103,000 after acquiring an additional 194,297 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 299,520 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 worth $218,063,000 after purchasing an additional 520,555 shares in the last quarter. 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. lifted its stake in Masco by 8.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 922,566 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $77,440,000 after buying an additional 73,405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,601,988.12. This trade 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 link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Masco Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MAS opened at $73.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.73. 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.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Masco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Masco from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Masco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Masco in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Masco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.32.

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.