Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Reduces Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 70.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,272 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,451 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in MSA Safety were worth $377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSA. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in MSA Safety by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 120.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 97.6% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $175.00 to $161.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MSA Safety currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.20.

MSA Safety Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of MSA traded up $3.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $148.88. 38,108 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,525. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 0.97. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $127.86 and a 12-month high of $200.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $150.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.42.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 28.64%. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,007. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.