Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,244 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.18% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $7,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 412.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 476 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 77.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 531 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company's stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 1.3 %

MSM traded up $1.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $77.26. The company had a trading volume of 208,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 634,870. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 0.89. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.10 and a 52 week high of $94.31.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $891.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.30 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 9th. MSC Industrial Direct's payout ratio is 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 27,642 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,951,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $136,171,853.25. The trade was a 1.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 18.30% of the stock is currently 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.