Level Four Advisory Services LLC Has $2.86 Million Stock Position in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,724 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.06% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $2,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 22.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,762,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,867,000 after purchasing an additional 327,833 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 1,118.9% in the 2nd quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 346,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,417,000 after purchasing an additional 317,613 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,650,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $283,513,000 after buying an additional 231,961 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 1st quarter worth $17,187,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the first quarter worth $10,485,000. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSM has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSM stock opened at $88.96 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.80. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.10 and a 12 month high of $94.31.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.06. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The business had revenue of $978.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 97.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Philip Peller acquired 6,666 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $90.14 per share, with a total value of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $859,665.18. This represents a 232.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 22,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $84.96 per share, with a total value of $1,943,035.20. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,328,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,803,192.32. This represents a 0.99% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 211,342 shares of company stock valued at $17,951,965. 18.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

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.