New York State Teachers Retirement System Buys 100 Shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,086 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.11% of MKS Instruments worth $7,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 692 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Eqis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Eqis Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,811 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 29,144 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,261 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $85.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TheStreet upgraded shares of MKS Instruments from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MKS Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

MKS Instruments Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $127.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 2.01. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.44 and a 1 year high of $135.51. The company has a market cap of $8.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.62, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.67.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.28. MKS Instruments had a negative net margin of 50.80% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $893.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $845.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Instruments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio is presently -3.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Seth H. Bagshaw sold 32,865 shares of MKS Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.28, for a total transaction of $4,051,597.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $123.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 250 shares of MKS Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total transaction of $30,722.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,125,795.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Seth H. Bagshaw sold 32,865 shares of MKS Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.28, for a total transaction of $4,051,597.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $123.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 60,776 shares of company stock valued at $7,326,307. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

MKS Instruments Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc provides foundational technology solutions to semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications in the United States, Germany, China, South Korea, and internationally. It operates through Vacuum Solutions Division (VSD), Photonics Solutions Division (PSD), and Material Solutions Division (MSD) segments.