Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 487 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 487 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $1,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,826,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $645,966,000 after buying an additional 23,526 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 770,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $144,642,000 after buying an additional 22,366 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 720,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,646,000 after buying an additional 17,007 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 12.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 718,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,186,000 after buying an additional 77,960 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 7.6% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 707,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $136,972,000 after buying an additional 49,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety

In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

NYSE:MSA opened at $176.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.45. MSA Safety Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $147.35 and a fifty-two week high of $200.60.

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

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company 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 research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

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.