Crestline Management LP Purchases Shares of 4,496 MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 4,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSM. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth $299,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,545,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1,872.3% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 107,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,011,000 after purchasing an additional 101,813 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at $283,000. Finally, Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $1,928,582.34. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,951,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $136,171,853.25. This trade represents a 1.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MSC Industrial Direct to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM stock opened at $76.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 0.90. 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 twelve month low of $68.10 and a twelve month high of $94.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.92.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $891.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.30 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

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.