Maverick Capital Ltd. Buys Shares of 11,251 MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 12,181.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,254,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $273,718,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228,170 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,796,316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,070,000 after purchasing an additional 187,440 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,773,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $163,607,000 after purchasing an additional 306,436 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,764,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,605,000 after purchasing an additional 36,626 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,357,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,240,000 after buying an additional 14,484 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSM shares. Weiss Ratings raised MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, July 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price objective on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. KeyCorp increased their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.43.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 1.6%

MSM stock opened at $124.59 on Wednesday. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.80 and a twelve month high of $128.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $118.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.92.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 17.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.06%.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.