Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 1,700 Shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,548 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in MKS Instruments were worth $2,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 108.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,019,134 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $110,789,000 after acquiring an additional 530,620 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in MKS Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $763,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in MKS Instruments in the third quarter worth $50,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of MKS Instruments by 65.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,849 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,462,000 after purchasing an additional 12,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of MKS Instruments by 26.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 23,311 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after buying an additional 4,846 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MKSI. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of MKS Instruments from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised shares of MKS Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of MKS Instruments in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark lowered their target price on MKS Instruments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MKS Instruments from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerard G. Colella sold 8,000 shares of MKS Instruments stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $836,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,017 shares in the company, valued at $6,273,577.01. The trade was a 11.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,607,324.64. The trade was a 1.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

MKS Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $63.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.65 and a 200-day moving average of $100.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 2.04. MKS Instruments, Inc. has a one year low of $54.84 and a one year high of $147.40.

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

MKS Instruments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. MKS Instruments’s payout ratio is presently 31.43%.

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.