Hantz Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 454.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,004 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,951 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in MKS were worth $3,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in MKS by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 12.5% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 956 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 1.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,964 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of MKS by 25.0% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in MKS by 30.4% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 553 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,011,514.03. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $226.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a PE ratio of 55.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $184.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.06. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $246.35.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. MKS had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $963.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. MKS’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MKSI shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on MKS from $122.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.50.

MKS Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) designs, manufactures and markets technology solutions that enable advanced processes in a variety of high‐technology and industrial markets. The company’s core offerings include vacuum and gas delivery systems, pressure and flow measurement instruments, optical metrology tools, photonics subsystems and critical components for manufacturing processes. These products support the precise control and monitoring needs of semiconductor, industrial manufacturing, life and health sciences, and research applications.

The company’s product portfolio features mass flow controllers, pressure transducers, vacuum gauges, gas purity monitors, laser-based metrology systems and photonic devices such as lasers and detectors.