Here Is What Hedge Funds Think About MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc (MSM)

Is MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc (NYSE:MSM) a good stock to buy right now? We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before doing days of research on it. Given their 2 and 20 payment structure, hedge funds have more resources than the average investor. The funds have access to expert networks and get tips from industry insiders. They also have numerous Ivy League graduates and MBAs. Like everyone else, hedge funds perform miserably at times, but their consensus picks have historically outperformed the market after risk adjustments.

Is MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc (NYSE:MSM) a buy, sell, or hold? The smart money is turning bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions increased by 7 recently. MSM was in 22 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with MSM holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare MSM to other stocks including Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CNK), Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG), and Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc (NYSE:RH) to get a better sense of its popularity.

With all of this in mind, let’s view the recent action surrounding MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc (NYSE:MSM).

What have hedge funds been doing with MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc (NYSE:MSM)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 47% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group has the most valuable position in MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc (NYSE:MSM), worth close to $211.1 million, amounting to 2% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is William von Mueffling of Cantillon Capital Management, with a $138 million position; the fund has 2.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining professional money managers that hold long positions encompass Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Allan Mecham and Ben Raybould’s Arlington Value Capital and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.