Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 918,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,369 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $79,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 442.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 1,142.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 35,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of MSM opened at $84.49 on Friday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.05 and a one year high of $104.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 0.87.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.74 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is 74.24%.

Insider Transactions at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Profile

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.