Insider Buying: MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Director Buys 6,666 Shares of Stock

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Director Philip Peller bought 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $90.14 per share, for a total transaction of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,665.18. This represents a 232.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:MSM traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $87.25. The stock had a trading volume of 244,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,391. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.85 and a 200 day moving average of $86.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45 and a beta of 0.98. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a one year low of $68.10 and a one year 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.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $978.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is a positive change from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 97.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research cut MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSM. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 23.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,801,000 after acquiring an additional 21,752 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the first quarter worth about $251,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 70,865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,504,000 after acquiring an additional 5,644 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 267.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 87,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,402,000 after purchasing an additional 63,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2,694.6% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.