MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Shares Sold by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. trimmed its position in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) by 34.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,075 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 35,529 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.10% of MKS Instruments worth $5,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in MKS Instruments by 257.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 461 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings 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. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in MKS Instruments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $135,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in MKS Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in MKS Instruments by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. 86.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKSI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of MKS Instruments in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 14th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of MKS Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.36.

Insider Transactions at MKS Instruments

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Partners Vi Cayman Hol sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.12, for a total transaction of $172,240,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,482,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,292,879.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MKS Instruments Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $87.60 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95 and a beta of 1.55. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.77 and a fifty-two week high of $125.56.

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

MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 26th. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio is 34.11%.

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.