Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Has $3.07 Million Stock Holdings in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,392 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in MKS Instruments were worth $3,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in MKS Instruments by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,525,037 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $265,874,000 after purchasing an additional 237,979 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 3,444.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in MKS Instruments by 772.7% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 61,447 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,481,000 after purchasing an additional 54,406 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS Instruments by 25.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of MKS Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,480,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MKSI shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price 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. Benchmark reduced their price target on MKS Instruments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on MKS Instruments from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS Instruments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.08.

MKS Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of MKSI opened at $63.69 on Thursday. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $147.40. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.81.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued 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 return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 5.30%. On average, analysts forecast that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Instruments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. MKS Instruments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.43%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $836,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 60,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,273,577.01. This represents a 11.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.46, for a total transaction of $25,426.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,384 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

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.