Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 5,451 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 70.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,451 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MSA Safety

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,007. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MSA stock opened at $144.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 0.97. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52-week low of $127.86 and a 52-week high of $200.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $151.66 and its 200 day moving average is $163.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.79.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on MSA Safety from $175.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.