Verity Asset Management Inc. Has $491,000 Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 53.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.4% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 6,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,761,435.64. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSM opened at $79.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.79 and a 1-year high of $104.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.94 and its 200-day moving average is $82.12.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 81.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.