Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,571 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.13% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $5,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 127.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,206,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,137,000 after purchasing an additional 676,238 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,576,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,735,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,987,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,443,000 after acquiring an additional 448,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 138.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 366,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,396,000 after acquiring an additional 212,730 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MSC Industrial Direct from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $73.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,951,725 shares in the company, valued at $136,171,853.25. This trade represents a 1.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 1.0%

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $82.95 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.93. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80 and a beta of 0.90. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.10 and a fifty-two week high of $90.81.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The firm had revenue of $891.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

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.