ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 8.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 164,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,325 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $30,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the 4th quarter worth $69,067,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,252,000. Cooke & Bieler LP purchased a new position in MSA Safety in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,236,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 1,601.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 312,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,443,000 after buying an additional 293,872 shares during the period. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 219.8% in the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 306,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,610,000 after purchasing an additional 210,968 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSA Safety

In related news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares in the company, valued at $6,039,117. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MSA shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair raised shares of MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th.

MSA Safety Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of MSA stock opened at $181.01 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $181.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.51. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $147.35 and a 12-month high of $200.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.04. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. The business had revenue of $462.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.30 million. Research analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.22%.

MSA Safety 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.