MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 27.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,465 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,403 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in MKS were worth $3,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 4.8% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 917 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in MKS in the second quarter worth $25,000. North Dakota State Investment Board grew its holdings in MKS by 2.9% in the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 2,054 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in MKS by 2.9% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,252 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS 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 owned 18,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,729,341.20. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MKSI. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on MKS from $345.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Citigroup reduced their target price on MKS from $430.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank set a $360.00 target price on MKS in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.77.

MKS Stock Performance

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

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

MKS declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 4th that permits the company to repurchase $500 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the scientific and technical instruments company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

MKS Company 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.