Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,027,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,560 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.83% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $97,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 465.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 19,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 16,205 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 115.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 14.1% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 24,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,049,000 after buying an additional 2,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 34.2% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 30,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,594,000 after buying an additional 7,749 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 13,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total value of $1,331,478.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,339,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,106,581.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 28.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MSM opened at $98.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.75 and a 12-month high of $105.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 1.02.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 24.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Loop Capital raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.60.

MSC Industrial Direct 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.