Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Has $796,000 Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 603.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 24.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 5,563 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.8% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 46,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 37.9% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 45,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,952,000 after purchasing an additional 12,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSM shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of MSM stock opened at $71.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.35. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a one year low of $70.13 and a one year high of $95.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 81.15%.

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.