Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Acquires 110 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $2,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,883,844 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $643,825,000 after purchasing an additional 22,190 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in MSA Safety by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,999,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $331,503,000 after buying an additional 173,210 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in MSA Safety by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 806,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,718,000 after buying an additional 24,733 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 767,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $127,251,000 after buying an additional 17,052 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 651,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,977,000 after buying an additional 131,458 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,007. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSA Safety Trading Down 0.1 %

MSA Safety stock opened at $142.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $152.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.29. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1 year low of $127.86 and a 1 year high of $200.61. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78 and a beta of 0.97.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSA shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $175.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.20.

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.