Advisors Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 180.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 30,797 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $3,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,693,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,469,000 after buying an additional 126,218 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 11.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 918,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,023,000 after buying an additional 91,369 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 793,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,243,000 after buying an additional 70,076 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 35,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 618,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,166,000 after purchasing an additional 105,265 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSM shares. Stephens lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research started 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. Seven equities research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSM stock opened at $78.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.40 and a 200-day moving average of $81.46. 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 12 month low of $72.79 and a 12 month high of $100.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.90.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.