Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Takes Position in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 49,770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,113,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Carlyle Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of MKS Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $280,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 16.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,129,843 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $506,570,000 after acquiring an additional 864,178 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 30.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,420,327 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $282,655,000 after acquiring an additional 802,095 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 5.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,642,162 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $696,324,000 after acquiring an additional 241,134 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS Instruments by 14.9% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,722,159 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $142,319,000 after acquiring an additional 222,821 shares during the period. 86.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MKS Instruments Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $86.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.77 and a 52 week high of $163.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $97.86 and its 200 day moving average is $88.60. The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.56.

MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.69. MKS Instruments had a net margin of 9.39% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that MKS Instruments, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Instruments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 27th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 24th. MKS Instruments’s payout ratio is 15.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MKS Instruments from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS Instruments in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of MKS Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $85.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $90.00 to $110.00 in a report on Monday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.73.

About MKS Instruments

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MKS Instruments, Inc provides instruments, systems, subsystems and process control solutions to measure, control, power, monitor, and analyze parameters of manufacturing processes to improve process performance and productivity for its customers. It operates through the following segments: Vacuum & Analysis, Light & Motion and Equipment & Solutions.