Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Acquires 2,665 Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,784 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,665 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned approximately 0.14% of MKS worth $7,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in MKS by 68.6% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its position in MKS by 66.7% during the first 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. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in MKS by 89.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $210,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,159,955. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on MKS in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "sell" rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MKS from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MKS from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.80.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $104.71. The company had a trading volume of 661,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,050,967. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.88. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.84 and a 12 month high of $133.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $94.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.19.

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

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. MKS's payout ratio is currently 26.27%.

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.