MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,604 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $2,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSM. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 34.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,480,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $467,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,485 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth $38,273,000. Balyasny Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter worth $14,719,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,817,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,790,000 after buying an additional 197,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 188.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 239,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,985,000 after buying an additional 156,483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 18,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,830,171.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,846,027 shares in the company, valued at $180,227,616.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 232,003 shares of company stock valued at $22,679,413 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSM opened at $92.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.95. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.14 and a 52-week high of $105.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.04.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 22.58%. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 59.61%.

MSC Industrial Direct 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.