MKS Inc. $MKSI Stock Acquired by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 278,246 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 16,679 shares during the period. MKS makes up 0.7% of Royce & Associates LP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in MKS were worth $73,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spyglass Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,720,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $231,673,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new position in MKS in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,329,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in MKS by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 44,846 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $19,948,000 after purchasing an additional 13,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in MKS by 3,011.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after buying an additional 18,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ MKSI traded down $5.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $215.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,314,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,678. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.74 and a twelve month high of $447.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $236.72 and a 200 day moving average of $276.91.

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

MKS declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 4th that authorizes the company to buy back $500 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the scientific and technical instruments company to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS 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 directly owned 18,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,729,341.20. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MKS from $285.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on MKS from $390.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank set a $360.00 price objective on MKS in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.77.

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.