4,273 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Bought by Callan Family Office LLC

Key Points

• Callan Family Office LLC purchased 4,273 shares of MKS Inc. for approximately $425,000 in the second quarter, marking a new investment in the scientific and technical instruments company.
• Analysts have varied opinions on MKS, with Zacks Research downgrading from a "strong-buy" to a "hold," while Goldman Sachs and Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price targets significantly, aligning to an average price target of $127.80.
• MKS recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.6%, with a payout ratio of 22.34%.

Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,273 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in MKS during the first quarter valued at $789,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of MKS by 2.2% in the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 251,799 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $20,182,000 after buying an additional 5,422 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of MKS by 15.5% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 18,884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,513,000 after buying an additional 2,530 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MKS by 16.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 110,765 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $8,878,000 after buying an additional 15,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter worth about $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MKSI shares. Zacks Research cut MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Eight investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $127.80.

MKS Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of MKSI opened at $136.42 on Thursday. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.84 and a 1 year high of $142.20. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.45. The stock has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.97.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.16. MKS had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company had revenue of $973.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.85, for a total transaction of $29,955.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,412,182.68. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,900 shares of company stock worth $744,227 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

About MKS

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.

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