Magnetar Financial LLC Sells 7,818 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Magnetar Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 84.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,818 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of MSA Safety by 3.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 9,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,640,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in MSA Safety during the 3rd quarter valued at $260,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,170,000 after buying an additional 26,835 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 23,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,147,000 after buying an additional 9,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 5.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $584,007. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of MSA Safety stock opened at $149.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.69. MSA Safety Incorporated has a one year low of $148.23 and a one year 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.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is presently 28.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $197.00.

About MSA Safety

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.