3,140 Shares in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) Acquired by Van Cleef Asset Management Inc

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,140 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAS. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Masco by 13,069.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 29,631 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 29,406 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 40.0% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,860 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 4,249 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Masco in the 3rd quarter valued at $218,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Masco by 8.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,884 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Masco by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 410,225 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $34,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MAS. Jefferies Financial Group cut Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Masco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Masco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Masco from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.32.

Masco Stock Down 1.8 %

MAS stock opened at $74.70 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $86.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.79. The company has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.25.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Masco’s payout ratio is 32.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Masco

In other Masco news, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $4,601,988.12. This trade represents a 26.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.