Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $3.53 Million Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 826 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned 0.05% of MSA Safety worth $3,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 valued at $643,825,000 after acquiring an additional 22,190 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,691,319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,939,000 after purchasing an additional 40,569 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MSA Safety by 27.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 781,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $138,658,000 after purchasing an additional 169,168 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 767,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,251,000 after purchasing an additional 17,052 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted 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 worth $107,977,000 after purchasing an additional 131,458 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MSA shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. DA Davidson started coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MSA Safety currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $197.00.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of MSA opened at $152.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52 week low of $148.23 and a 52 week high of $200.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $159.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.43. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors 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 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is currently 28.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.