First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) by 16.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 187,382 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,453 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.28% of MKS Instruments worth $15,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKSI. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in MKS Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth about $98,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in MKS Instruments by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 983 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in MKS Instruments by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 692 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.77% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MKS Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Cowen upped their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $85.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Benchmark upgraded shares of MKS Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of MKS Instruments in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.64.
MKS Instruments Stock Down 3.0 %
MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.01 million. MKS Instruments had a net margin of 9.39% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 3.97 earnings per share for the current year.
MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 27th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 24th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.20%.
MKS Instruments Profile
MKS Instruments, Inc provides instruments, systems, subsystems and process control solutions to measure, control, power, monitor, and analyze parameters of manufacturing processes to improve process performance and productivity for its customers. It operates through the following segments: Vacuum & Analysis, Light & Motion and Equipment & Solutions.
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