Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 10.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,048 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.28% of Brady worth $10,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Brady by 65.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Brady by 337.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Brady by 36.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Brady in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Brady by 10,983.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Stock Down 0.7 %

Brady stock opened at $74.98 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 0.76. Brady Co. has a 52 week low of $52.99 and a 52 week high of $77.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $377.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.88 million. Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Brady’s payout ratio is presently 23.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of Brady stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total value of $647,337.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $751,374. The trade was a 46.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231. 15.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brady Profile

Brady Corporation manufactures and supplies identification solutions (IDS) and workplace safety (WPS) products to identify and protect premises, products, and people in the United States and internationally. The company offers materials, printing systems, RFID, and bar code scanners for product identification, brand protection labeling, work in process labeling, finished product identification, and industrial track and trace applications; safety signs, floor-marking tapes, pipe markers, labeling systems, spill control products, lockout/tagout device, and software and services for safety compliance auditing, procedure writing, and training; and hand-held printers, wire markers, sleeves, and tags for wire identification.