Boston Partners Grows Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,434,415 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 96,335 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 2.57% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $107,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSM. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 53.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 412.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 476 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 77.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 531 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Stephens downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,994,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,393. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.79 and a fifty-two week high of $100.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.93. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $80.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49 and a beta of 0.90.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. MSC Industrial Direct's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.