Ceera Investments LLC Increases Stock Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Ceera Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,348 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,342 shares during the period. Ceera Investments LLC's holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSM. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,170,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,693,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $126,469,000 after acquiring an additional 126,218 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 618,103 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,166,000 after acquiring an additional 105,265 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 918,235 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $79,023,000 after acquiring an additional 91,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 793,184 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $59,243,000 after acquiring an additional 70,076 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE MSM traded down $1.81 on Thursday, reaching $74.36. 562,889 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 593,559. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.65. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 0.90. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.70 and a 12 month high of $100.35.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct's payout ratio is 81.15%.

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.