6,310 Shares in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Bought by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 6,310 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in MKS Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at $610,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in MKS Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at $1,821,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MKS Instruments by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 49,593 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,209,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MKS Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MKS Instruments by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 53,347 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS Instruments news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total value of $30,722.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,161 shares in the company, valued at $1,125,795.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other MKS Instruments news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total value of $30,722.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,161 shares in the company, valued at $1,125,795.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gerard G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,162,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,776 shares of company stock worth $6,226,307 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MKSI shares. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on MKS Instruments from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on MKS Instruments from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com raised MKS Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet raised MKS Instruments from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on MKS Instruments from $85.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.75.

MKS Instruments Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $116.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of -4.22, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 1.67. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.44 and a 1 year high of $135.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $123.92 and its 200 day moving average is $102.22.

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

MKS Instruments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -3.19%.

MKS Instruments Company 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.