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

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSA. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 8.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew 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 valued at $1,799,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,190 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in MSA Safety by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,276 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSA shares. DA Davidson decreased their target price 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. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target (down previously from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price target on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MSA Safety from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $191.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,007. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $4,839,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 35,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,710,889.32. This trade represents a 45.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of MSA traded down $0.52 on Friday, hitting $157.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 157,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,739. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $150.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. MSA Safety Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $127.86 and a fifty-two week high of $200.61.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $421.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $402.60 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. MSA Safety's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSA Safety's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.24%.

About MSA Safety

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.