Madison Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 933,936 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,494,000. MKS Instruments comprises approximately 1.1% of Madison Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Madison Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 1.39% of MKS Instruments at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 444,333 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,303,000 after acquiring an additional 30,216 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,525,037 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $265,874,000 after buying an additional 237,979 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 3,444.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 300,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,391,000 after acquiring an additional 292,226 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in MKS Instruments by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 35,069 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after buying an additional 7,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in MKS Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth $868,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on MKS Instruments from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of MKS Instruments from $156.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on MKS Instruments in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark dropped their price target on MKS Instruments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of MKS Instruments from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.08.

Insider Activity at MKS Instruments

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

MKS Instruments Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $81.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 3.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $105.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.58. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.37 and a fifty-two week high of $147.40.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 18.94%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Instruments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid 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 dividend yield of 1.09%. MKS Instruments’s payout ratio is 31.43%.

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.