BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 146,601 Shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 1,121.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,668 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 146,601 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.34% of Brady worth $12,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brady by 39.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,658,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $203,753,000 after purchasing an additional 753,092 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brady by 16.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 390,396 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,916,000 after acquiring an additional 54,264 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 0.9% during the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 32,135 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brady by 0.7% in the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 83,349 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,387,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Brady by 173.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,342 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Brady

In related news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total value of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,520,297.40. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total value of $216,020.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $737,014.79. The trade was a 22.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company's stock.

Brady Trading Up 0.7 %

Brady stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $75.43. 229,267 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,805. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.76. Brady Co. has a 12 month low of $55.97 and a 12 month high of $77.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $74.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.85.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $377.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.88 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change from Brady's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady's payout ratio is currently 23.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Brady from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Brady Profile

Brady Corporation manufactures and supplies identification solutions (IDS) and workplace safety (WPS) products to identify and protect premises, products, and people in the United States and internationally. The company offers materials, printing systems, RFID, and bar code scanners for product identification, brand protection labeling, work in process labeling, finished product identification, and industrial track and trace applications; safety signs, floor-marking tapes, pipe markers, labeling systems, spill control products, lockout/tagout device, and software and services for safety compliance auditing, procedure writing, and training; and hand-held printers, wire markers, sleeves, and tags for wire identification.