MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 85.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,733,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,256,706 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 4.87% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $216,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth about $56,088,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth about $21,649,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the first quarter worth about $16,571,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 804.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 154,454 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,476,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kimberly Shacklett sold 4,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.60, for a total transaction of $413,271.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,086.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 18.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MSM. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $95.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 8th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $78.71 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.60. The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.86. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.05 and a 1 year high of $105.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.01.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The business had revenue of $979.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 64.47%.

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.