MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 74,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17,259 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $6,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 1,711.1% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 16,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 15,400 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 50,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,240,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, April 27th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.71.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 1.3%

MSM stock opened at $115.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.04 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $101.46 and its 200 day moving average is $92.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.73. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a one year low of $78.80 and a one year high of $118.52.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $917.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.69 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 8th were paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 8th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.55%.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.