Ceera Investments LLC Buys 3,621 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Ceera Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 49.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,621 shares during the period. Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $947,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1,142.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 442.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 35,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. The trade was a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total value of $4,518,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of MSM opened at $83.07 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.07 and a 200 day moving average of $83.47. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.05 and a fifty-two week high of $104.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.96.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.05). MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%. The firm had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.74 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 74.24%.

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.