58,776 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Purchased by M&G PLC

M&G PLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 58,776 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,576,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in MKS by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 4.8% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 917 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the second quarter worth $25,000. North Dakota State Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 2.9% during the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 2,054 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 2.9% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,252 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of MKS from $285.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MKS from $345.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of MKS from $390.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total transaction of $75,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,845 shares in the company, valued at $4,729,341.20. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKS stock opened at $213.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $276.92. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.74 and a fifty-two week high of $447.62. The firm has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 2.14.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.55. MKS had a return on equity of 28.77% and a net margin of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.86%.

MKS announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 4th that permits the company to repurchase $500 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the scientific and technical instruments company to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MKS Profile

MKS Inc. develops technologies used to manufacture semiconductor devices and other advanced products. Its offerings include instruments, components, subsystems and systems that measure and control pressure, gas flow, gas composition, power and other process conditions. The company also provides laser and photonics technologies, motion-control solutions, and specialty chemicals and plating equipment. These products support semiconductor fabrication and packaging, electronics manufacturing, life sciences and a range of industrial applications.