DAVENPORT & Co LLC Acquires New Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,141 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MKSI. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MKS by 52.3% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 2,492 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at about $358,000. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at about $203,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 163.5% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,182 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 5,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,024,230. The trade was a 24.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of MKS 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 in the company, valued at $1,412,182.68. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,900 shares of company stock worth $744,227 over the last ninety days. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Stock Up 9.7%

Shares of MKSI opened at $133.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.88. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.84 and a 1 year high of $142.20. The firm has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.97.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $973.00 million for 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%.MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKSI. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MKS from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.80.

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.