Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lessened its position in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,650 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 31,135 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.30% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $12,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSM. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,650,221 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $283,513,000 after acquiring an additional 231,961 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 5.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,781,503 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $138,369,000 after purchasing an additional 88,247 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 22.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,762,248 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $136,867,000 after buying an additional 327,833 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,240,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,343,000 after buying an additional 33,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,079,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,621,000 after buying an additional 102,660 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct
In other news, SVP Kimberly Shacklett sold 2,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $195,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,348,444. This represents a 12.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 18.30% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSM shares. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $89.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $90.33.
View Our Latest Stock Report on MSC Industrial Direct
MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.9%
MSM traded down $0.84 during trading on Monday, hitting $90.13. 468,213 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 367,700. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $92.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.80. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.
MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $971.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $969.72 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.
MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.05%.
About MSC Industrial Direct
(
Free Report)
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.
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