Barclays PLC Buys 14,504 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 86.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,504 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $5,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 120.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in MSA Safety by 97.6% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of MSA opened at $153.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31 and a beta of 0.97. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $127.86 and a twelve month high of $200.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $150.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.00.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 28.64%. On average, analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $175.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $194.20.

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.