GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 359 Shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 46.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,131 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in MKS Instruments were worth $118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 4.1% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,984 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. BOKF NA bought a new stake in shares of MKS Instruments in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MKS Instruments during the second quarter worth about $43,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in MKS Instruments by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 46,864 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,119,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MKS Instruments by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,483 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $10,771,000 after acquiring an additional 4,635 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MKSI. Citigroup raised shares of MKS Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target on shares of MKS Instruments in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MKS Instruments from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho upgraded MKS Instruments to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MKS Instruments from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.83.

Insider Transactions at MKS Instruments

In other MKS Instruments news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.41, for a total transaction of $31,187.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,659 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,707.19. This represents a 1.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of MKS Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.80, for a total transaction of $34,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,146,048.40. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Instruments Stock Down 1.5 %

MKSI opened at $111.16 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.91. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 1-year low of $97.54 and a 1-year high of $147.40. The stock has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 247.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.27. MKS Instruments had a net margin of 0.90% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The company had revenue of $896.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $874.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Instruments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. MKS Instruments’s payout ratio is 195.56%.

About MKS Instruments

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.