Optimum Investment Advisors Boosts Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in MKS were worth $62,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 33.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 3,021 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of MKS by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 17,364 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 36,422 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the 1st quarter worth about $789,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $142.94 on Monday. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.84 and a 12-month high of $146.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $120.56 and a 200 day moving average of $100.28.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $973.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.05 million. MKS had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKSI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen raised MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on MKS from $118.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.85, for a total value of $29,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,923,410.55. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 5,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,024,230. This represents a 24.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,900 shares of company stock worth $744,227 over the last quarter. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.