Hood River Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Hood River Capital Management LLC cut its stake in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,276 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of MKS Instruments worth $4,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 92.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 229,385 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,597,000 after purchasing an additional 110,427 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 180,266 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $18,544,000 after buying an additional 9,962 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,471 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its stake in MKS Instruments by 123.0% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 5,045 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MKSI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on MKS Instruments from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup lowered MKS Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on MKS Instruments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $153.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of MKS Instruments in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.00.

Insider Transactions at MKS Instruments

In related news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.97, for a total value of $31,891.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,934 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,805.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.97, for a total value of $31,891.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,934 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,805.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John Edward Williams sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.71, for a total transaction of $213,678.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,543.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,325 shares of company stock valued at $276,435 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MKS Instruments Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $109.45 on Tuesday. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.44 and a fifty-two week high of $147.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.58. The company has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.10, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.64.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $887.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.38 million. MKS Instruments had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 0.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. MKS Instruments’s payout ratio is currently -3.30%.

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.