Vanguard Group Inc. Has $597.17 Million Holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,450,615 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.05% of MKS worth $597,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of MKS by 66.7% during the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in MKS by 89.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in MKS by 1,330.9% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 787 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 79.2% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $261,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $210,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,159,955. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.10, for a total value of $27,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,862 shares in the company, valued at $1,092,490.20. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $104.36 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $98.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.29. The company has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $125.33.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $973.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.05 million. MKS had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 7.11%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MKSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MKS from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho boosted their price target on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MKS from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on MKS in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.80.

MKS 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.