Simplicity Solutions LLC Buys 539 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $707,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 154.8% during the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter worth about $77,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5,345.0% during the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 51,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.31, for a total value of $4,966,702.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,907,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,596,541.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 232,003 shares of company stock valued at $22,679,413. Corporate insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.3 %

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $91.10 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $97.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 0.95. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.14 and a 12 month high of $105.77.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $935.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 59.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct 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.