J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Invests $309,000 in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 3,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,817,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,790,000 after acquiring an additional 197,193 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 5.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,080,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,032,000 after acquiring an additional 52,633 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 19.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 769,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,566,000 after acquiring an additional 125,944 shares during the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.5% in the third quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 719,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,659,000 after acquiring an additional 10,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 605,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,307,000 after buying an additional 113,068 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 137,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.66, for a total transaction of $13,449,344.56. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,708,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $166,833,652.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 180,963 shares of company stock valued at $17,712,711. 18.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE:MSM opened at $93.40 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $97.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77 and a beta of 0.95. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.14 and a 12 month high of $105.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 59.61%.

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.