Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 65,221 MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 65,221 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,871,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.12% of MSC Industrial Direct at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 412.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 476 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 77.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 531 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.20.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 27,642 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $69.77 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE:MSM traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $76.73. The stock had a trading volume of 48,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 636,624. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.89. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.10 and a 1-year high of $94.31. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $77.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.25.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.