Alliancebernstein L.P. Buys 26,414 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 278,690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,414 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.50% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $20,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 54,138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 38,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,884,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 1.5 %

MSM opened at $70.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 0.89. 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 Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.10 and a 12 month high of $95.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.23.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.20.

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.