Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Makes New $1.29 Million Investment in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 14,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 182.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 14.6% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 2,162 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 10.1% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.9% in the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 51,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,075,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSM. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total value of $4,518,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 0.8 %

MSM opened at $85.88 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.79 and a 200 day moving average of $82.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.05 and a 12 month high of $104.76. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75 and a beta of 0.87.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%. The company had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.24%.

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.