Pzena Investment Management LLC Sells 138,529 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Pzena Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 138,529 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $29,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,400,000. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 113.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 5,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 33.3% during the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 15,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $152.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Stephens upgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.22.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $115.94 per share, for a total transaction of $28,985,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,578,192 shares in the company, valued at $298,915,580.48. This trade represents a 10.74% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Reuben E. Slone acquired 433 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $115.77 per share, with a total value of $50,128.41. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,128.41. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 19.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $110.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81 and a beta of 0.83. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.80 and a 12-month high of $133.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.86.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.04. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 5.55%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. MSC Industrial Direct’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors 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 an increase 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 3.2%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 87.44%.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc is a distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies. The company serves industrial and institutional customers with products used in machining, manufacturing, facility maintenance and workplace safety.

Its offerings include cutting tools, abrasives, tooling and workholding equipment, machinery, safety products, material-handling supplies, janitorial and facility-maintenance products, and other industrial consumables. MSC also provides technical support, inventory-management programs, vending and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage procurement and production-related needs.

Founded in 1941, MSC serves customers primarily across the United States and Canada through sales representatives, customer service teams, catalogs, distribution operations and digital commerce platforms.