Convergence Investment Partners LLC Trims Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 38,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,920,000 after acquiring an additional 4,102 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 110,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,166,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 42,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,263,000 after buying an additional 12,088 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 8,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 2,357 shares during the period. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 84,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,440,000 after buying an additional 2,166 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 24,501 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.31, for a total transaction of $2,433,194.31. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,683,810 shares in the company, valued at $167,219,171.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSM. KeyCorp lowered their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 0.0 %

MSM stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $93.22. 363,044 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 470,775. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.80. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a one year low of $88.61 and a one year high of $105.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $935.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.61%.

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.