Quest Partners LLC Has $2.81 Million Stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 1,932.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,691 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,886 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Brady worth $2,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Brady during the first quarter valued at approximately $13,439,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 157,149 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Brady by 27.1% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,590,000 after acquiring an additional 118,557 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Brady by 23.5% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 231.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 132,019 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,716,000 after acquiring an additional 92,228 shares during the period. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 21,128 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.30, for a total value of $1,590,938.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,691,895. This represents a 17.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 sold a total of 45,262 shares of company stock valued at $3,371,231 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 15.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Brady Price Performance

Shares of BRC traded down $4.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $70.20. 654,483 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 273,389. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.31 and a 200 day moving average of $70.05. Brady Co. has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $77.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.76.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $343.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $351.74 million. Brady had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 14.70%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Brady Co. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Brady's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Brady's payout ratio is currently 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.