Brown Advisory Inc. Trims Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Brown Advisory Inc. cut its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 436,603 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 107,949 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned approximately 1.11% of MSA Safety worth $72,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MSA traded up $1.92 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $157.72. 156,977 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 178,846. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $149.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.11. The company has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 0.96. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $127.86 and a twelve month high of $200.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $421.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $402.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost 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 1.34%. MSA Safety's dividend payout ratio is 29.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSA. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSA Safety from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson cut their price target on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price objective on MSA Safety in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSA Safety has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.80.

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.