Bridgewater Associates LP Cuts Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 61.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,633 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,237 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSM. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1,142.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 323 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the second quarter worth $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 442.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 35,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 354 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSM traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.76. 455,613 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 585,646. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.05 and a twelve month high of $104.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $83.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share 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%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio is 74.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction 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 approximately $126,761,435.64. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at $360,199.08. The trade was 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 currently owned by company insiders.

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.