Insider Buying: MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Director Purchases $28,985,000.00 in Stock

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Director Mitchell Jacobson acquired 250,000 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $115.94 per share, for a total transaction of $28,985,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,578,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,915,580.48. This represents a 10.74% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM stock opened at $123.09 on Friday. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.80 and a 12 month high of $133.95. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $123.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.04.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 18.72%. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be issued a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSM. Jefferies Financial Group raised MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Stephens raised MSC Industrial Direct from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $152.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson set a $155.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSM. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 20.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,773,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $163,607,000 after purchasing an additional 306,436 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,463,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,098,000 after purchasing an additional 52,860 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,357,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $125,240,000 after purchasing an additional 14,484 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 43.0% during the 1st quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 705,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,122,000 after purchasing an additional 212,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,939,000. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc is a distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies. The company serves industrial and institutional customers with products used in machining, manufacturing, facility maintenance and workplace safety.

Its offerings include cutting tools, abrasives, tooling and workholding equipment, machinery, safety products, material-handling supplies, janitorial and facility-maintenance products, and other industrial consumables. MSC also provides technical support, inventory-management programs, vending and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage procurement and production-related needs.

Founded in 1941, MSC serves customers primarily across the United States and Canada through sales representatives, customer service teams, catalogs, distribution operations and digital commerce platforms.