MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Shares Purchased by Ceera Investments LLC

Ceera Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,241 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,893 shares during the period. Ceera Investments LLC's holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSM. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 895.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 51.1% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 116.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Loop Capital increased their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $89.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $90.33.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSM traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $90.75. 1,040,003 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 621,379. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.10 and a twelve month high of $91.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.68. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64 and a beta of 0.87.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.05%.

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.