Insider Selling: MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells 300 Shares of Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total transaction of $36,642.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,412,182.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

MKS Price Performance

MKS stock opened at $137.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.84 and a 12 month high of $140.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $109.43 and its 200-day moving average is $94.03.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.16. The business 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in MKS during the 1st quarter worth approximately $789,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of MKS by 2.2% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 251,799 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $20,182,000 after buying an additional 5,422 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in MKS by 15.5% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 18,884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,513,000 after buying an additional 2,530 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MKS by 16.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 110,765 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,878,000 after buying an additional 15,482 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in MKS during the first quarter valued at $1,257,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MKSI shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Mizuho upped their target price on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MKS from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.80.

MKS Company 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.