49,770 Shares in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Bought by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 49,770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,113,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned approximately 0.07% of MKS Instruments as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MKSI. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in MKS Instruments during the third quarter worth $56,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of MKS Instruments by 57.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of MKS Instruments in the third quarter valued at $98,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MKS Instruments by 31.1% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 983 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of MKS Instruments by 19.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 692 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 86.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of MKS Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of MKS Instruments in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cowen increased their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $85.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.73.

MKS Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $86.98 on Friday. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.77 and a 52-week high of $163.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.93. The company has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.56.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.69. MKS Instruments had a net margin of 9.39% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.02 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 42.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 27th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 24th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. MKS Instruments’s payout ratio is 15.20%.

MKS Instruments Profile

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MKS Instruments, Inc provides instruments, systems, subsystems and process control solutions to measure, control, power, monitor, and analyze parameters of manufacturing processes to improve process performance and productivity for its customers. It operates through the following segments: Vacuum & Analysis, Light & Motion and Equipment & Solutions.