B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Decreases Position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its holdings in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 33.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,175 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,554 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Masco were worth $666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Masco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $129,306,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Masco by 21.0% in 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 last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Masco in the fourth quarter worth $33,157,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Masco by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 708,830 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,440,000 after buying an additional 338,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Masco by 10.2% during 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 during the period. 93.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MAS. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Masco from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Masco in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer raised Masco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.30.

Insider Transactions at Masco

In other Masco news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,601,988.12. The trade was a 26.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Renee Straber sold 3,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.78, for a total transaction of $225,317.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 33,027 shares in the company, valued at $2,370,678.06. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Masco Stock Performance

Shares of MAS opened at $62.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74. The stock has a market cap of $13.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.51. Masco Co. has a 52 week low of $60.29 and a 52 week high of $86.70.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released 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 return on equity of 838.32% and a net margin of 10.50%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Masco’s payout ratio is 32.98%.

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.