Gotham Asset Management LLC Acquires 42,268 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 251,710 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,268 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.45% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $18,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 36.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,490 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,195,000 after acquiring an additional 6,864 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth $34,735,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 26,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 155,601 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth $2,654,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSM. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.20.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 27,642 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,928,582.34. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,951,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $136,171,853.25. The trade was a 1.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

NYSE MSM traded down $0.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $78.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,479. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.79 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.81 and a 200 day moving average of $79.93. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a one year low of $68.10 and a one year high of $94.31.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $891.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.30 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

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.