GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases 6,973 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 30.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,973 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $2,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 7.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,567,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,859,000 after acquiring an additional 113,878 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 918,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,023,000 after purchasing an additional 91,369 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5.8% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 641,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,232,000 after purchasing an additional 35,077 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 618,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,166,000 after buying an additional 105,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.3% in the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 361,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,135,000 after buying an additional 11,585 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM stock opened at $80.83 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.08. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.79 and a twelve month high of $104.76.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MSM. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens cut MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.80.

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.