MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Position Boosted by Advisor Group Holdings Inc.

Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Get Rating) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,151 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc.'s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $2,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 73.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 350 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1,379.3% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 429 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 271.0% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 687 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.89% of the company's stock.

MSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.67.

Shares of MSM opened at $95.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $89.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 2.04. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.32 and a twelve month high of $95.32.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.10. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 9.34% and a return on equity of 26.66%. The company had revenue of $961.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $934.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 6.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 11th were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 10th. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio is 48.62%.

In other news, SVP Kimberly Shacklett sold 6,442 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.99, for a total value of $586,157.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $975,048.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 28.39% of the company's stock.

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, and the United Kingdom. Its 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.

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