abrdn plc Acquires 9,949 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 233,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 9,949 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $39,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,550,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 0.3% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 25,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,970,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 7.0% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 4,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.75, for a total value of $761,389.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,593,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 4,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.75, for a total transaction of $761,389.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,593,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.84, for a total value of $200,024.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,540,912.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,504 shares of company stock valued at $1,017,991. Insiders own 6.07% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE MSA opened at $187.92 on Tuesday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $122.57 and a 1-year high of $196.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $185.96 and a 200-day moving average of $172.01. The firm has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 129.60 and a beta of 1.01.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.18. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 3.28%. The company had revenue of $495.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $467.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. MSA Safety’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSA Safety presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.50.

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.