Insider Buying: MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Director Buys 95,779 Shares of Stock

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 95,779 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $84.92 per share, for a total transaction of $8,133,552.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,219,295 shares in the company, valued at $188,462,531.40. This trade represents a 4.51% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Mitchell Jacobson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 3rd, Mitchell Jacobson purchased 51,954 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $84.43 per share, for a total transaction of $4,386,476.22.
• On Friday, October 31st, Mitchell Jacobson bought 34,073 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $84.76 per share, for a total transaction of $2,888,027.48.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSM traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $84.79. 461,272 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 590,412. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.10 and a fifty-two week high of $94.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.51.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.06. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 5.29%.The firm had revenue of $978.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 97.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the third quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.3% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.6% in the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 43,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,990,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 5.0% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 55,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,086,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.