Altrius Capital Management Inc Acquires New Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Altrius Capital Management Inc bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 53,979 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,645,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc owned 0.10% of MSC Industrial Direct as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSM. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 30.8% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,129 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,622 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 7.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 130,123 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,627,000 after acquiring an additional 8,971 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 194.7% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 887 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.9% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 1st quarter valued at about $775,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at $126,761,435.64. This trade represents a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at $360,199.08. The trade was a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE MSM traded down $2.38 on Friday, hitting $83.07. 684,575 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 581,937. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.05 and a 52-week high of $104.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.52. The firm has a market capitalization 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $952.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $959.74 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.24%.

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.