Park Place Capital Corp Sells 1,226 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Park Place Capital Corp decreased its stake in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 38.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,950 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,226 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Masco were worth $131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Masco by 118,819.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,978,187 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $325,672,000 after purchasing an additional 6,972,319 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Masco during the fourth quarter valued at $69,716,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Masco during the first quarter valued at $44,883,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Masco by 209.6% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,251,223 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,795,000 after purchasing an additional 847,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P lifted its holdings in shares of Masco by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 9,728,394 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $558,215,000 after acquiring an additional 781,049 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Richard Allan Marshall sold 5,000 shares of Masco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total transaction of $385,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,328.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Richard Allan Marshall sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total value of $385,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,328.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kenneth G. Cole sold 36,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total transaction of $2,703,076.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 58,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,395,765.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,762 shares of company stock valued at $6,337,597 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Masco from $65.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Masco from $58.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Masco in a research note on Friday, January 19th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Masco from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.62.

Masco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MAS opened at $76.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.05. Masco Co. has a 12 month low of $46.69 and a 12 month high of $78.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.83. The stock has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.25.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The construction company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.17. Masco had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 3,111.50%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Masco Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Masco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Masco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Masco’s payout ratio is 28.93%.

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.