The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 51,924 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in MKS Inc. by 10.6% by purchasing an additional 51,924 shares, bringing its total ownership to 543,421 shares.
• MKS announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, set to be paid on September 5th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.
• Analysts have mixed views on MKS, with the average target price set at $119.80, varying from a high of $130.00 to a low of $90.00 among different research firms.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 543,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 51,924 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.81% of MKS worth $43,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors increased 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased 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 buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in MKS by 1,168.3% during the first 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 position in MKS by 79.2% during the first 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, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the fourth quarter worth approximately $261,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised MKS from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Zacks Research downgraded MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "sell" rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MKS from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on MKS from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MKS currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $119.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 20,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,159,955. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.85, for a total value of $29,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,923,410.55. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,600 shares of company stock valued at $267,585. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI stock traded up $2.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.49. The company had a trading volume of 809,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,168,926. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.94. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $101.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.57. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $54.84 and a one year high of $125.33.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 7.11%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. MKS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.34%.

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.