Verition Fund Management LLC Trims Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Verition Fund Management LLC trimmed its position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,758 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 8,833 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Brady were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRC. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Brady by 39.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Brady by 143.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 266,981 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,459,000 after purchasing an additional 157,149 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Brady by 1,121.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,668 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,235,000 after purchasing an additional 146,601 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,590,000 after acquiring an additional 118,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 560,274 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,631,000 after acquiring an additional 106,652 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Brady

In related news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 21,128 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.30, for a total transaction of $1,590,938.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 102,150 shares in the company, valued at $7,691,895. This represents a 17.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total transaction of $647,337.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 10,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $751,374. This trade represents a 46.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,715 shares of company stock worth $2,454,296. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company's stock.

Brady Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BRC traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.60. 310,185 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 274,842. Brady Co. has a one year low of $56.09 and a one year 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.56. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Brady Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Brady's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.59%.

Brady Company 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.