AIA Group Ltd Grows Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 34.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,383 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 154.8% in the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 3rd quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 5,345.0% in the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM opened at $91.65 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.06. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.14 and a fifty-two week high of $105.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.01.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 22.58%. The firm had revenue of $935.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 59.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 18,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,830,171.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,846,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,227,616.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 232,003 shares of company stock worth $22,679,413 in the last 90 days. 18.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Company 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.