Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 107,949 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Brown Advisory Inc. reduced its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 436,603 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 107,949 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 1.11% of MSA Safety worth $72,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in MSA Safety by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,688 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,060 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 63.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,796,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth about $1,131,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank boosted its holdings in MSA Safety by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MSA Safety from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. DA Davidson decreased their price target on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 target price on MSA Safety in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $191.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MSA traded down $0.14 on Friday, hitting $157.37. The stock had a trading volume of 139,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 179,352. 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 52 week low of $127.86 and a 52 week high of $200.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $149.12 and its 200 day moving average is $160.89. The company has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 0.96.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $421.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $402.60 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 28.64%. The business's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. 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.