Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $4.87 Million Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 65,221 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,871,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.12% of MSC Industrial Direct at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 459,100 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $34,290,000 after acquiring an additional 54,600 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 260,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $19,442,000 after buying an additional 39,560 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 127.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,206,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,137,000 after buying an additional 676,238 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 102.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 38,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,861,000 after buying an additional 19,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 603.8% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 10,655 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 9,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson acquired 27,642 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,951,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $136,171,853.25. This represents a 1.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 18.30% of the company's stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

NYSE MSM traded down $0.53 on Monday, reaching $77.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 298,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,106. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $77.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.29. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.10 and a 52 week high of $94.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio is 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.