California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Stock Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 99,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $10,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,817,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,790,000 after buying an additional 197,193 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 39.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 462,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,420,000 after purchasing an additional 131,943 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 769,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,566,000 after purchasing an additional 125,944 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 605,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,307,000 after purchasing an additional 113,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 39.1% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 343,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,755,000 after purchasing an additional 96,700 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 0.3 %

MSM opened at $90.96 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $96.39 and a 200 day moving average of $97.58. 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 Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.77 and a 12 month high of $105.77. The company has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 0.95.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.