KBC Group NV Sells 42,745 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

KBC Group NV lessened its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 95.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 42,745 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSM. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 895.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 0.4%

MSM stock opened at $89.97 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.51. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.10 and a 12 month high of $90.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.05. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The firm had revenue of $971.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $969.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 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 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $89.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.33.

Insider Transactions at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 1,951,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $136,171,853.25. This represents a 1.44% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

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.