MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Director Purchases $2,888,027.48 in Stock

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 34,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $84.76 per share, for a total transaction of $2,888,027.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,253,368 shares in the company, valued at $190,995,471.68. This trade represents a 1.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Mitchell Jacobson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 3rd, Mitchell Jacobson purchased 51,954 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $84.43 per share, with a total value of $4,386,476.22.
• On Thursday, October 30th, Mitchell Jacobson purchased 95,779 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $84.92 per share, with a total value of $8,133,552.68.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSM traded down $0.12 on Monday, reaching $84.79. The company had a trading volume of 461,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,412. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $94.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.51.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 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 company had revenue of $978.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 97.75%.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 445.4% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 779,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,567,000 after purchasing an additional 636,827 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 6,108.1% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 505,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,298,000 after purchasing an additional 497,810 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the second quarter valued at about $39,950,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in 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 valued at $136,867,000 after acquiring an additional 327,833 shares during the period. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1,118.9% in the second quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 346,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,417,000 after purchasing an additional 317,613 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Wolfe Research downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

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.