UMB Bank n.a. Increases Stake in MKS Inc. $MKSI

UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 55.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 975 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in MKS were worth $97,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of MKS by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in MKS by 1.3% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 16,140 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in MKS by 1.1% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in MKS by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.10, for a total transaction of $27,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,092,490.20. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,024,230. This trade represents a 24.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,600 shares of company stock valued at $917,585 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on MKS in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MKS from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.80.

MKS Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of MKSI opened at $123.94 on Thursday. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.84 and a 52-week high of $132.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.86. The company has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.94.

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

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. MKS’s payout ratio is 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.