MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 5.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,359,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $534,178,000 after purchasing an additional 327,944 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,476,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $325,962,000 after buying an additional 72,338 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,926,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,812,000 after buying an additional 259,981 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,367,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $114,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,288,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,247,000 after purchasing an additional 56,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 13,599 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $1,331,478.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,339,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,106,581.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 28.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSM. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.60.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MSM opened at $98.58 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.75 and a 52-week high of $105.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $97.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 1.02.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 24.29%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.79 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.34%.

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.