Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. cut its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,002,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 87,183 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $85,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 130.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 79.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the second quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $82.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.68. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $94.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15 and a beta of 0.84.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.06. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 5.29%.The firm had revenue of $978.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson acquired 95,779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $84.92 per share, with a total value of $8,133,552.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,219,295 shares in the company, valued at $188,462,531.40. This trade represents a 4.51% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Peller bought 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $90.14 per share, for a total transaction of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $859,665.18. This trade represents a 232.18% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased 211,342 shares of company stock worth $17,951,965 over the last 90 days. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Wolfe Research cut MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

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.