Royce & Associates LP Sells 50,344 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 14.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 306,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50,344 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.55% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $37,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,463,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,098,000 after acquiring an additional 52,860 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 20.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,773,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $163,607,000 after acquiring an additional 306,436 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,357,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $125,240,000 after acquiring an additional 14,484 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 100.6% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC now owns 484,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,986,000 after purchasing an additional 243,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the second quarter worth approximately $49,939,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.7%

MSC Industrial Direct stock traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.56. 480,065 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,031,985. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.78. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.80 and a fifty-two week high of $133.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $122.90 and its 200-day moving average is $110.84.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 18.72%. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be paid a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 89.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $115.94 per share, with a total value of $28,985,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,578,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,915,580.48. The trade was a 10.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Reuben E. Slone bought 433 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $115.77 per share, with a total value of $50,128.41. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,128.41. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 19.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Stephens upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $152.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. DA Davidson set a $155.00 price objective on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.22.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct is a North American distributor of metalworking products and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies. The company serves manufacturers and other industrial customers, offering products such as cutting tools, abrasives, hand tools, safety equipment, fasteners and electrical supplies. In addition to product distribution, MSC provides services designed to help customers manage purchasing and inventory. These include online ordering, inventory-management programs, vending solutions and technical support for metalworking and manufacturing applications.