Jane Street Group LLC Has $504,000 Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Jane Street Group LLC trimmed its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 68.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,042 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,629 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in MSA Safety were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,883,844 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $643,825,000 after buying an additional 22,190 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,999,779 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $331,503,000 after buying an additional 173,210 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,354,310 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $224,504,000 after buying an additional 674,560 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,131,515 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $187,573,000 after buying an additional 271,264 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 806,438 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $133,718,000 after purchasing an additional 24,733 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSA Safety news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $4,839,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 35,401 shares in the company, valued at $5,710,889.32. The trade was a 45.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MSA Safety from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down previously from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price objective on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $191.80.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

NYSE MSA traded up $3.53 on Tuesday, hitting $165.37. 235,636 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 185,828. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The business's fifty day moving average is $151.73 and its 200 day moving average is $159.78. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52 week low of $127.86 and a 52 week high of $200.61. The company has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94 and a beta of 0.96.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 28.64%. The firm had revenue of $421.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. MSA Safety's dividend payout ratio is 29.24%.

MSA Safety Profile

MSA Safety Incorporated develops, manufactures, and supplies safety products and technology solutions that protect people and facility infrastructures in the fire service, energy, utility, construction, and industrial manufacturing applications, as well as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration industries worldwide.