Boston Trust Walden Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 486,508 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 65,704 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $44,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 71.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 130.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.17.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $123.06 on Friday. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.80 and a twelve month high of $127.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.72 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $110.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.11.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.34% and a net margin of 5.91%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 93.55%.

Trending Headlines about MSC Industrial Direct

Here are the key news stories impacting MSC Industrial Direct this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSC Industrial beat Wall Street estimates with fiscal Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.43 and revenue of about $1.05 billion, helped by price gains and a return to volume growth, which points to improving operating momentum. MSC Industrial Q3 Earnings Beat on Price Gains & Volume Growth
• Positive Sentiment: DA Davidson raised its price target on MSC Industrial Direct to $150 from $145 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence that shares still have room to run. Benzinga / The Fly report
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded MSC Industrial to Rank #2 (Buy), citing improving earnings expectations and reinforcing the bullish post-earnings sentiment. What Makes MSC Industrial (MSM) a New Buy Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Management and commentary around the earnings call suggest the turnaround is progressing, with improving volume trends, a reset cost structure, and guidance pointing to continued sales gains. MSM Q3 Earnings Call Shows Early Gains in Volume, Cost Reset
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock also appears to be benefiting from broader investor enthusiasm after reaching new highs, as the market continues to price in a stronger industrial recovery. MSC Industrial: A Broadening Industrial Recovery Is Driving Shares To New Highs

MSC Industrial Direct Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.