California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 109 Shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 113,763 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in MKS Instruments were worth $11,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in MKS Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth $131,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in MKS Instruments by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,471 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in MKS Instruments by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,673 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of MKS Instruments by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,195 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $105,163,000 after purchasing an additional 44,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of MKS Instruments by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,333 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded MKS Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Benchmark lifted their price target on MKS Instruments from $85.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. TheStreet upgraded MKS Instruments from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MKS Instruments from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on MKS Instruments from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.75.

MKS Instruments Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $115.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.67. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.44 and a twelve month high of $135.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.42.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $893.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 4.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Instruments Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS Instruments news, Director Gerard G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of MKS Instruments 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,162,040. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Gerard G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,162,040. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 250 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 9,161 shares in the company, valued at $1,125,795.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,776 shares of company stock valued at $6,226,307. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About MKS Instruments

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.