MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 443 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSM. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 36.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,195,000 after acquiring an additional 6,864 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,735,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 26,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 155,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter worth $2,654,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSM. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped 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 research note on Friday, April 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 0.1 %

MSM stock opened at $75.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.43. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 0.89. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.10 and a 52 week high of $94.31. 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 (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $891.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,951,725 shares in the company, valued at $136,171,853.25. This represents a 1.44 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 18.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.