Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys 32,597 Shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,491 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,597 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.26% of MKS Instruments worth $18,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in MKS Instruments by 7.3% in 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 increased its stake in MKS Instruments by 10.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 237,979 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in MKS Instruments by 3,444.0% in the 4th 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 increased its stake in MKS Instruments by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 35,069 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 7,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in MKS Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $868,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS Instruments news, Director Gerard G. Colella sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $836,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,273,577.01. This represents a 11.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 17,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,607,324.64. This represents a 1.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised MKS Instruments from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on MKS Instruments from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of MKS Instruments in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on MKS Instruments in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on MKS Instruments from $156.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.08.

MKS Instruments Trading Up 0.3 %

MKSI traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $81.24. 1,476,295 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 869,162. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $105.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.58. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.37 and a 52-week high of $147.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.23. MKS Instruments had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 5.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. MKS Instruments's dividend payout ratio is 31.43%.

MKS Instruments 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.