MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Position Lessened by Mutual of America Capital Management LLC

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,146 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $2,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 154.8% during the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 5,345.0% during the third quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MSM opened at $91.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $97.34 and its 200-day moving average is $98.06. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.14 and a 52-week high of $105.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.01.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 24,501 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.31, for a total transaction of $2,433,194.31. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,683,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,219,171.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 232,003 shares of company stock valued at $22,679,413 over the last three months. 18.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.