20,349 Shares in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Purchased by Atom Investors LP

Atom Investors LP 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 Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,349 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,751,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSM. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1,142.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 323 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the second quarter worth $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 442.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 35,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 354 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSM traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.52. 105,153 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 576,520. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.81. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 0.90. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.05 and a 52 week high of $104.76.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $952.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.74 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%. MSC Industrial Direct's revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a positive change from MSC Industrial Direct's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. MSC Industrial Direct's payout ratio is presently 74.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSM. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $126,761,435.64. This trade represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.