Signaturefd LLC Grows Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 163.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,182 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 1,354 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MKSI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 8,326.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 95,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,638,000 after buying an additional 94,167 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 89.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 0.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 187,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $15,053,000 after buying an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the first quarter worth $601,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 11.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MKSI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of MKS from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total value of $36,642.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,412,182.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.85, for a total transaction of $29,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,923,410.55. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,900 shares of company stock valued at $744,227. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MKS Trading Up 4.0%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $136.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.99. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $54.84 and a one year high of $137.14. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.97.

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

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.34%.

About MKS

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.