Cerity Partners LLC Raises Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 16.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 4.5% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,078 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $705,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth about $34,735,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 895.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kimberly Shacklett sold 2,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $195,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,348,444. This represents a 12.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 18.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $87.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.92. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $92.68.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $971.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $969.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSM. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $89.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.33.

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.