Toronto Dominion Bank Buys 5,431 Shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 132,033 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,431 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.06% of Masco worth $9,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MAS. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Masco by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 219,120 shares of the construction company's stock worth $17,135,000 after purchasing an additional 13,568 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Masco by 5,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,300 shares of the construction company's stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 10,100 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Masco by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,016,079 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $73,737,000 after buying an additional 20,129 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Masco by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 11,337 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 1,931 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Masco by 91.6% during the fourth 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MAS shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Masco from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Loop Capital set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Masco and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Masco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Masco from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Masco has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.63.

Masco Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE MAS traded down $0.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $61.79. 1,678,106 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,802,242. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.23. Masco Co. has a 12-month low of $56.55 and a 12-month high of $86.70. The firm has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Masco (NYSE:MAS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.05). Masco had a net margin of 10.50% and a return on equity of 838.32%. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Masco Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Masco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Masco's dividend payout ratio is 33.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Masco news, VP Renee Straber sold 3,139 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.78, for a total value of $225,317.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 33,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,370,678.06. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith J. Allman sold 21,723 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.36, for a total transaction of $1,658,768.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,601,988.12. This trade represents a 26.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by 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.