Gabelli Funds LLC Increases Stock Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in MKS Inc. by 16.5%, owning 37,386 shares valued at approximately $3 million following a recent acquisition during the 1st quarter.
• MKS reported a 9.7% increase in revenue year-over-year with Q2 earnings of $1.77 EPS, exceeding expectations and demonstrating strong financial performance.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, reflecting a 0.9% yield and a payout ratio of 22.34%.

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 16.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,386 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.06% of MKS worth $2,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its stake in MKS by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $47,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 1,168.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 799 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.10, for a total transaction of $27,630.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,092,490.20. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.85, for a total transaction of $29,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,923,410.55. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,600 shares of company stock worth $267,585 in the last quarter. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MKSI. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MKS from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, August 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $119.80.

MKS Stock Down 2.5%

MKSI stock traded down $2.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $99.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 286,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,978. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.51. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.84 and a 52-week high of $125.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $973.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $931.05 million. MKS had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. MKS's payout ratio is 22.34%.

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.