MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 95.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 23,809 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $97,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.6% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 8.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 7.4% in the second quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSM. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price target on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.67.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE:MSM opened at $94.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.73. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $95.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $85.62 and a 200-day moving average of $87.40.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $965.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.52 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 14th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 14th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.08%.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 22,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $84.96 per share, for a total transaction of $1,943,035.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,328,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,803,192.32. This trade represents a 0.99% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Philip Peller purchased 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $90.14 per share, with a total value of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,537 shares in the company, valued at $859,665.18. This represents a 232.18% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 19.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.