7,437 Shares in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Bought by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,256,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,802,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $599,481,000 after acquiring an additional 14,236 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 4.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,132,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,233,000 after acquiring an additional 87,707 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 377,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,537,000 after acquiring an additional 5,432 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 31.8% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 281,558 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,388,000 after acquiring an additional 67,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 233,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,396,000 after acquiring an additional 9,949 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.50.

MSA Safety Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MSA opened at $183.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.73. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $126.75 and a 12-month high of $196.02. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25 and a beta of 1.01.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $428.38 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 31.51%. MSA Safety’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.29, for a total value of $2,038,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,800 shares in the company, valued at $10,524,472. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 4,099 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.75, for a total transaction of $761,389.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,800 shares in the company, valued at $12,593,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.29, for a total transaction of $2,038,190.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,524,472. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,504 shares of company stock valued at $3,056,181. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

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.