GAMMA Investing LLC Buys Shares of 329 MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 329 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 2.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,853,896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $593,136,000 after acquiring an additional 187,884 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS Instruments during the fourth quarter worth $21,052,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 2,071.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $90,432,000 after acquiring an additional 840,322 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 7,453 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 41.1% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 134,735 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $11,660,000 after acquiring an additional 39,255 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS Instruments

In other news, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 7,411 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total transaction of $910,737.79. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $5,284,147.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Gerard G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,162,040. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 7,411 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total transaction of $910,737.79. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,284,147.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,776 shares of company stock worth $6,226,307 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MKS Instruments from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on MKS Instruments from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Benchmark increased their target price on MKS Instruments from $85.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com raised MKS Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, TheStreet raised MKS Instruments from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.75.

MKS Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $122.02 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. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.44 and a 1 year high of $135.51. The company has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of -4.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $123.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.05.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $893.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $845.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. MKS Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio is presently -3.19%.

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.