JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $18.77 Million Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 251,258 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,388 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.45% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $18,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at $1,053,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,594 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at about $680,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 246,741 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,429,000 after purchasing an additional 17,266 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,418,260 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,310,000 after buying an additional 193,860 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,951,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $136,171,853.25. The trade was a 1.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 18.30% of the company's stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSM traded down $0.73 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.32. The stock had a trading volume of 27,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,307. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.10 and a 12 month high of $94.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 0.89.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio is 89.71%.

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.