Claro Advisors LLC Acquires 522 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 4.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,931 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 522 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Masco were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MAS. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Masco in the second quarter valued at $82,363,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Masco by 956.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 989,640 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $83,070,000 after purchasing an additional 895,950 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Masco by 66.5% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,823,934 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $121,581,000 after purchasing an additional 728,690 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Masco by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,300,591 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,074,591,000 after purchasing an additional 721,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Masco by 55.8% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,538,952 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $121,391,000 after purchasing an additional 551,203 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MAS. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Masco from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Masco from $80.00 to $83.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Masco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kenneth G. Cole sold 37,814 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total transaction of $2,961,592.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,896,273.60. This represents a 50.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Masco Trading Down 1.0 %

Masco stock opened at $78.42 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.86 and a 200 day moving average of $75.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.24. Masco Co. has a 12-month low of $58.89 and a 12-month high of $86.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Masco had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 615.54%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Masco Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.