Aviance Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,010 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 895.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $89.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MSC Industrial Direct from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.33.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $89.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 706,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 619,471. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 0.87. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a one year low of $68.10 and a one year high of $90.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.05. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 5.30%. The company had revenue of $971.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $969.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. MSC Industrial Direct's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. MSC Industrial Direct's payout ratio is 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $1,928,582.34. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,951,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $136,171,853.25. This trade represents a 1.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.