MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Bought by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 22.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Madison Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 52.9% during the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,428,143 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,466,000 after acquiring an additional 494,207 shares during the last quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,228,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 9.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,388,639 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $271,599,000 after acquiring an additional 300,356 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 158.5% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 367,437 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,357,000 after acquiring an additional 225,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 18.5% during the first quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,038,945 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $83,271,000 after acquiring an additional 161,905 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.10, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on MKS from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on MKS in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.80.

MKS Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $101.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.94. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $125.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.61 and a 200 day moving average of $89.51.

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

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.34%.

MKS 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.