MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC decreased its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 383 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKSI. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of MKS by 41.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,250,085 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $260,494,000 after buying an additional 958,607 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the first quarter valued at $44,320,000. Madison Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 52.9% in 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 buying an additional 494,207 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of MKS by 138.3% in the first quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP now owns 708,021 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $56,748,000 after buying an additional 410,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 132.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 545,109 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $43,690,000 after buying an additional 310,314 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.85, for a total value of $29,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,923,410.55. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $650,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,024,230. The trade was a 24.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,900 shares of company stock valued at $744,227 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $132.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.17. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.84 and a 1 year high of $142.20.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced 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 company had revenue of $973.00 million during 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%.MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. MKS’s payout ratio is 22.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on MKS from $130.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MKS from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.