Polaris Capital Management LLC Has $35.91 Million Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Polaris Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 3.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 361,400 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 12,200 shares during the quarter. MKS accounts for 2.4% of Polaris Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $35,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its position in MKS by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in MKS by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings 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 holdings 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. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MKSI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MKS from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on MKS in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.80.

MKS Stock Up 1.0%

MKSI opened at $137.86 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $109.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.02. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $140.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.99. The firm has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.97.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $973.00 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total value of $36,642.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,412,182.68. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 19,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,923,410.55. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,900 shares of company stock valued at $744,227 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.