BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 307.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,804 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 56,433 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.13% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $5,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 200,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,954,000 after purchasing an additional 32,499 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at $685,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at $326,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 430,642 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,165,000 after purchasing an additional 83,718 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MSM shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 6th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $82.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MSM traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $81.86. 525,689 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 641,544. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $76.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a one year low of $68.10 and a one year high of $92.77.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $891.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.30 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,951,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $136,171,853.25. This represents a 1.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 18.30% 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.