Moran Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 163,576 Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 163,576 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,871,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Masco at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MAS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Masco by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,031 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Masco by 2.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 263,155 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,089,000 after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Masco during the third quarter worth $38,000. Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in Masco by 2.2% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 7,953 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Masco in the third quarter valued at about $2,109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Masco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Masco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Masco from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.32.

Masco Stock Up 1.5 %

MAS stock opened at $75.25 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24. Masco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $86.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.15 and a 200-day moving average of $78.76.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. This is an increase from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Masco’s payout ratio is currently 32.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of Masco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 $4,601,988.12. This trade represents a 26.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.