MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Earns “Neutral” Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $95.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.67% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on MSM. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. iA Financial set a $95.00 target price on MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.50.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE MSM opened at $95.64 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.52. The firm has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.82. MSC Industrial Direct has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $96.51.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $965.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.52 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 22,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $84.96 per share, for a total transaction of $1,943,035.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,328,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,803,192.32. The trade was a 0.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Philip Peller purchased 6,666 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $90.14 per share, with a total value of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $859,665.18. This represents a 232.18% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 19.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the second quarter worth $1,352,000. Arjuna Capital bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter worth about $4,274,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,950,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,190,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 250,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,289,000 after buying an additional 14,107 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.