Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Increases Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in MKS Inc. by 5.2%, acquiring an additional 173,945 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 3.5 million shares valued at $281.8 million.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about MKS, with eight analysts rating the stock as "Buy" and a consensus price target of $119.80, after several brokerages recently raised their price objectives.
• MKS has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.8%, with a payout ratio of 22.34%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,515,373 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 173,945 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 5.21% of MKS worth $281,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in MKS by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 626,143 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $65,365,000 after purchasing an additional 199,795 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 38,103 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,154 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in MKS by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 62,009 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $6,474,000 after acquiring an additional 2,270 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter valued at about $493,000. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its holdings in MKS by 91.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 38,669 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $4,037,000 after acquiring an additional 18,451 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MKS from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MKS from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $119.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of MKS 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,159,955. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.10, for a total value of $27,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,092,490.20. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKS stock traded up $1.90 during trading on Thursday, reaching $107.58. 289,621 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,177,726. The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.88. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.84 and a 52-week high of $125.33.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $973.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.05 million. MKS had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 7.11%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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 is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. MKS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.