Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys Shares of 5,216 MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,216 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 869 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,799,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,190 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,276 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,698,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com raised MSA Safety from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price objective on MSA Safety in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $191.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSA Safety

In other news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $5,710,889.32. This represents a 45.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,007. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

NYSE:MSA opened at $159.50 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50-day moving average is $149.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.58. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $127.86 and a 1-year high of $200.61.

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

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. MSA Safety's payout ratio is presently 29.24%.

MSA Safety Company 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.

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