Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 12,046 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,852 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 12,046 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.13% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $5,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 116.2% in 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 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 MSC Industrial Direct news, SVP Kimberly Shacklett sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.60, for a total transaction of $192,887.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,327,924.20. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 18.30% of the company's stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

NYSE MSM traded up $0.96 during trading on Thursday, reaching $91.66. 1,017,291 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 623,088. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.10 and a 1-year high of $92.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $81.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.75. The company has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 0.87.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. MSC Industrial Direct's payout ratio is presently 96.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" 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 research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research raised MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MSC Industrial Direct from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $90.33.

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.