Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $48.39 Million Position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 603,708 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 7,982 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.90% of MKS worth $48,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 89.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 24,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MKS from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on MKS from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MKS from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $118.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $210,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,159,955. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Stock Up 1.9%

MKS stock traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $103.94. 987,730 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,053,995. The company has a current ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.88. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.84 and a 1-year high of $135.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.19.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $936.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $913.59 million. MKS had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 20.67%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. MKS's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.27%.

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.