Jane Street Group LLC Reduces Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Jane Street Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 34.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,820 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,952 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 85.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,733,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $216,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256,706 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 7.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,567,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,859,000 after purchasing an additional 113,878 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 938,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,467,000 after purchasing an additional 61,022 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 11.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 918,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,023,000 after buying an additional 91,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 765,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,718,000 after buying an additional 84,967 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

NYSE:MSM opened at $76.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.09. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.05 and a 1-year high of $104.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 0.89.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The firm had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MSM shares. Stephens cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,761,435.64. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.