115,824 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI Acquired by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 115,824 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,736,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spyglass Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MKS in the 2nd quarter worth about $52,720,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth about $231,673,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new stake in MKS during the 1st quarter worth about $1,329,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in MKS by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 44,846 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $19,948,000 after acquiring an additional 13,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in MKS by 3,011.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 18,674 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on MKS from $390.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MKS from $345.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total transaction of $75,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,729,341.20. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MKS Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI traded down $5.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $215.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,314,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,678. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.19. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.74 and a twelve month high of $447.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $236.72 and its 200-day moving average is $276.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 2.14.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 28.77% and a net margin of 12.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.86%.

MKS announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 4th that permits the company to repurchase $500 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the scientific and technical instruments company to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MKS Profile

MKS Inc. develops technologies used to manufacture semiconductor devices and other advanced products. Its offerings include instruments, components, subsystems and systems that measure and control pressure, gas flow, gas composition, power and other process conditions. The company also provides laser and photonics technologies, motion-control solutions, and specialty chemicals and plating equipment. These products support semiconductor fabrication and packaging, electronics manufacturing, life sciences and a range of industrial applications.