Sharp Financial Services LLC Makes New $332,000 Investment in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Sharp Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,450 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSM. Red Spruce Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 21,677 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 476 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 55,458 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,654,000. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,917 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 5,674 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSM shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens lowered shares of 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 note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Seven equities research 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, MSC Industrial Direct has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MSM stock traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $82.39. 924,115 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 987,244. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.79 and a 1-year high of $104.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.01. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.91.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The business had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.15%.

Insider Activity

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is 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.