New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Makes New $194,000 Investment in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,854 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in MKS Instruments by 68.6% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MKS Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in MKS Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in MKS Instruments by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 433 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in MKS Instruments by 424.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 414 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of MKS Instruments in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on MKS Instruments from $156.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upgraded MKS Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on MKS Instruments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.08.

MKS Instruments Stock Performance

MKS Instruments stock opened at $81.28 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.86.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.15 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts expect that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Instruments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.43%.

Insider Transactions at MKS Instruments

In other MKS Instruments news, Director Gerard G. Colella sold 8,000 shares of MKS Instruments 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,273,577.01. The trade was a 11.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.46, for a total value of $25,426.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,384 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MKS Instruments Company 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.