Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Boosts Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 618,841 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,682 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 1.30% of Brady worth $47,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in Brady by 161.4% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Brady by 65.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Brady by 36.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Brady by 91.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,754 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brady during the 2nd quarter valued at $119,000. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Brady news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 21,128 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $7,691,895. This represents a 17.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of Brady stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total transaction of $216,020.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at $737,014.79. This represents a 22.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,715 shares of company stock worth $2,454,296 over the last 90 days. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Brady Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Brady stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.60. The company had a trading volume of 310,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 274,842. Brady Co. has a 52-week low of $56.09 and a 52-week high of $77.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.26 and a 200 day moving average of $71.60.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.