Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 21,154 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 67.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 21,154 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 53.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.4% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 6,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSM shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Stephens downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $81.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.92. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.79 and a 52 week high of $104.76.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The business had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors 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 yield of 4.15%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Company 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.