Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,859 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $861,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,088,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 18,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 97,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,855,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSM stock opened at $83.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.74. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.05 and a 12-month high of $105.77. 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 (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.33. The company had revenue of $979.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.10 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 7.44%. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Baird R W lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.20.

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.