New England Research & Management Inc. Has $1.60 Million Holdings in Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

New England Research & Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,275 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Masco were worth $1,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Masco by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,294,294 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $864,103,000 after purchasing an additional 194,297 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Masco by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,997,839 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $218,063,000 after buying an additional 520,555 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Masco by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,950,880 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $241,825,000 after buying an additional 26,259 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Masco by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 995,950 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $83,600,000 after buying an additional 14,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Masco by 956.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 989,640 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $83,070,000 after buying an additional 895,950 shares in the last quarter. 93.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MAS. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Masco from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Masco in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Masco from $80.00 to $83.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Masco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.27.

Masco Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MAS opened at $79.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74. Masco Co. has a 12 month low of $63.81 and a 12 month high of $86.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $76.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.37.

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

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.