MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Shares Purchased by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 53.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSM. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 8,289.7% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 16,828 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 367.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 71,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,179,000 after acquiring an additional 56,430 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 23,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Ceera Investments LLC grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ceera Investments LLC now owns 11,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $947,000 after acquiring an additional 3,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 3.3% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 361,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,135,000 after purchasing an additional 11,585 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total value of $4,518,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSM shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE MSM opened at $87.15 on Tuesday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.05 and a 52 week high of $104.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.74 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 74.24%.

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.