Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 310 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 36.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,195,000 after buying an additional 6,864 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,259,000 after purchasing an additional 35,289 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 102.8% during the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 15,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 7,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 240.3% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSM shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on 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. Loop Capital cut their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded MSC Industrial Direct to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,951,725 shares in the company, valued at $136,171,853.25. This represents a 1.44 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 18.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $77.62 on Monday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.10 and a twelve month high of $94.31. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.34. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 0.89.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $891.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.30 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

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.