Praxis Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of MKS during the 1st quarter valued at about $789,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at about $214,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in MKS by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 251,799 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $20,182,000 after acquiring an additional 5,422 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in MKS by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 18,884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MKS by 16.2% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 15,482 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MKSI. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on MKS from $130.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Zacks Research cut MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.70.

MKS Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $136.52 on Monday. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $142.20. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.58. The stock has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.97.

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

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jacqueline F. 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 value of $36,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,562 shares in the company, valued at $1,412,182.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director owned 19,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,923,410.55. The trade was a 1.53% 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 in the last quarter. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MKS 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.