Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.10% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $4,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 2nd quarter valued at about $361,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 363.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 442.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Willis Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 87,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.80.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at $360,199.08. The trade was a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 0.5 %

MSM opened at $80.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 0.91. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.79 and a 1-year high of $104.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.01. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.15%.

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.