Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 293,205 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,225 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.75% of MSA Safety worth $49,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSA Safety during the 4th quarter valued at $69,067,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MSA Safety in the fourth quarter worth about $68,252,000. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,771,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,132,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,233,000 after purchasing an additional 87,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in MSA Safety in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,126,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety

In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.29, for a total value of $2,038,190.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,524,472. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd.

MSA Safety Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of MSA Safety stock opened at $184.81 on Thursday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $147.35 and a fifty-two week high of $196.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.38 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.88.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.14. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 31.51%. The firm had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $428.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This is an increase from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.22%.

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.