Madison Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Madison Asset Management LLC cut its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 33.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 976,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 487,592 shares during the period. MKS accounts for 1.3% of Madison Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $120,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MKSI. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in MKS by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 12.5% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 956 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 74.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 1.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,964 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors grew its position in MKS by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $252.52 on Wednesday. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.84 and a 12-month high of $259.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 61.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $190.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.79.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 21.36%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction of $47,643.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $260.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Benchmark boosted their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MKS from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.50.

MKS Company Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) designs, manufactures and markets technology solutions that enable advanced processes in a variety of high‐technology and industrial markets. The company’s core offerings include vacuum and gas delivery systems, pressure and flow measurement instruments, optical metrology tools, photonics subsystems and critical components for manufacturing processes. These products support the precise control and monitoring needs of semiconductor, industrial manufacturing, life and health sciences, and research applications.

The company’s product portfolio features mass flow controllers, pressure transducers, vacuum gauges, gas purity monitors, laser-based metrology systems and photonic devices such as lasers and detectors.