MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Holdings Decreased by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 140,597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,332 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.21% of MKS Instruments worth $14,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Barclays PLC grew its stake in MKS Instruments by 108.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,019,134 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $110,789,000 after buying an additional 530,620 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in MKS Instruments by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,883 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in MKS Instruments by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,952 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in MKS Instruments by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,969 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in MKS Instruments by 424.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 414 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MKSI. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on MKS Instruments from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of MKS Instruments in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MKS Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Benchmark decreased their price target on MKS Instruments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MKS Instruments from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.92.

MKS Instruments Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of MKS Instruments stock opened at $83.82 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.17. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $147.40.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $936.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $913.59 million. MKS Instruments had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 5.30%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio is 26.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.46, for a total transaction of $25,426.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,607,324.64. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% 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.