Cerity Partners LLC Has $10.33 Million Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 10.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 134,860 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 15,048 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Brady worth $10,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Brady by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 337.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in Brady by 36.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Brady during the second quarter worth about $119,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Brady by 10,983.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,977 shares during the period. 76.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Brady Price Performance

Shares of Brady stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $75.33. 21,587 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 275,724. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 0.76. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $74.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.45. Brady Co. has a twelve month low of $53.64 and a twelve month high of $77.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $377.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Brady Co. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Brady's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Brady's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total value of $916,934.76. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total value of $647,337.60. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 10,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $751,374. This represents a 46.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company's stock.

About Brady

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.