Jacqueline Moloney Sells 300 Shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,412,182.68. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

MKS Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $137.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $109.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.02. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.84 and a 52 week high of $140.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.97.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.16. MKS had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $973.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MKS from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MKS from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.80.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 8,326.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 95,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,638,000 after purchasing an additional 94,167 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of MKS by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 187,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $15,053,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 1st quarter valued at $601,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of MKS by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.