MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MKS from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on MKS in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.80.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $108.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.94. MKS has a 1-year low of $54.84 and a 1-year high of $125.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $102.10 and its 200-day moving average is $89.48.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.16. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that MKS will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 0.8%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.34%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,490.20. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $210,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,159,955. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,600 shares of company stock valued at $267,585. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of MKS by 114.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,911 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,624 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in MKS by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 190,128 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $19,847,000 after buying an additional 12,942 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in MKS by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 92,932 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,701,000 after buying an additional 19,244 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in MKS by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,439 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after buying an additional 7,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in MKS by 158.5% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 225,285 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.