Trexquant Investment LP Makes New $843,000 Investment in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 412.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 77.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 27,642 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,928,582.34. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,951,725 shares in the company, valued at $136,171,853.25. The trade was a 1.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 18.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSM. Wolfe Research raised MSC Industrial Direct to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE MSM opened at $77.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.83. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $94.31.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $891.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

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.