Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires 32,597 Shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 177,491 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 32,597 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in MKS Instruments were worth $18,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in MKS Instruments by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,562 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in MKS Instruments by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 877,040 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $91,554,000 after buying an additional 207,165 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in MKS Instruments by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,680,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Dundas Partners LLP boosted its stake in MKS Instruments by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 2,198 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in MKS Instruments by 210.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 278,950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,008,000 after buying an additional 189,125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MKS Instruments

In related news, Director Gerard G. Colella sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $836,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,017 shares in the company, valued at $6,273,577.01. The trade was a 11.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.46, for a total value of $25,426.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,607,324.64. This represents a 1.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MKSI. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on MKS Instruments from $156.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on MKS Instruments from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark dropped their price target on MKS Instruments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of MKS Instruments in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on MKS Instruments in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.08.

MKS Instruments Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $81.02 on Thursday. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.37 and a 1-year high of $147.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $105.26 and a 200-day moving average of $107.58. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.23. MKS Instruments had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 5.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.43%.

MKS Instruments 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.