First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 241,061 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 554.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 284,552 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 241,061 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.72% of MSA Safety worth $47,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in MSA Safety by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 120.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 97.6% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank grew its position in MSA Safety by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of MSA Safety from $175.00 to $161.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $194.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,007. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

MSA Safety Price Performance

Shares of MSA Safety stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $153.66. 227,399 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 176,553. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $150.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.00. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31 and a beta of 0.97. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12 month low of $127.86 and a 12 month 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.