MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Shares Bought by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $604,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 72,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,430,000 after purchasing an additional 10,357 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after buying an additional 4,528 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 618,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,166,000 after buying an additional 105,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 89,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,681,000 after buying an additional 1,982 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stephens cut MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of MSM stock opened at $80.21 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 0.91. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.79 and a 52-week high of $104.76.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The business had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's MRO products include cutting tools, measuring instruments, tooling components, metalworking products, fasteners, flat stock products, raw materials, abrasives, machinery hand and power tools, safety and janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, materials handling products, power transmission components, and electrical supplies.