Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 645 Shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in MKS Instruments were worth $1,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in MKS Instruments by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,662,475 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $140,862,000 after purchasing an additional 151,010 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 55,231 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,680,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. US Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS Instruments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS Instruments by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,404 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 6,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MKS Instruments by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,713 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. 86.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MKS Instruments Stock Down 0.0 %

MKSI stock opened at $82.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79 and a beta of 1.55. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.77 and a 12 month high of $125.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.76. The company had revenue of $794.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.85 million. MKS Instruments had a net margin of 4.11% and a return on equity of 11.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MKS Instruments

In related news, major shareholder Carlyle Partners Vi Cayman Hol sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.12, for a total value of $172,240,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,482,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,292,879.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MKSI. KeyCorp upped their price target on MKS Instruments from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on MKS Instruments from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $110.00) on shares of MKS Instruments in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MKS Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.36.

MKS Instruments Company 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.