Atria Investments Inc Purchases Shares of 4,220 MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 442.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 1,142.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 35,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in 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 research analysts have commented on MSM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.20.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total value of $4,518,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSM stock opened at $84.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.05 and a 12-month high of $104.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.27.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 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.