Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Invests $1.57 Million in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,566,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 154.8% in the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter worth $77,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the third quarter worth $93,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 5,345.0% during the third quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 18,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,830,171.98. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,846,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,227,616.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 232,003 shares of company stock valued at $22,679,413. Company insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSM opened at $92.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.95. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.14 and a twelve month high of $105.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 22.58%. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.61%.

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.