Praxis Investment Management Inc. Makes New $209,000 Investment in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of MKS by 1,168.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 799 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of MKS by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $136.52 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.97. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.58. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $142.20.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $931.05 million. MKS had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 7.11%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MKSI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on MKS from $118.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MKS from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director directly owned 19,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,923,410.55. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total value of $36,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,412,182.68. The trade was 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 in the last ninety days. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MKS 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.