HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 4,041 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 50,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,041 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $3,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSM. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,170,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,693,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,469,000 after purchasing an additional 126,218 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 618,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,166,000 after acquiring an additional 105,265 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 918,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,023,000 after acquiring an additional 91,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 793,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,243,000 after acquiring an additional 70,076 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

NYSE:MSM opened at $78.21 on Friday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.79 and a 1-year high of $100.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.90.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The business had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSM. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Stephens cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct 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.