Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $5.81 Million Stock Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 19.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 approximately 0.13% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $5,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 895.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 116.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company's stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSM opened at $89.97 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $81.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.10 and a fifty-two week high of $90.85.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens raised their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MSC Industrial Direct from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Industrial Alliance Securities set a $89.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $90.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 27,642 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,928,582.34. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,951,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $136,171,853.25. This represents a 1.44% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 18.30% of the company's stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Company 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.

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