J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,679 MKS Inc. $MKSI

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 4,679 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in MKS in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MKS during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction of $47,643.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark raised their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MKS from $187.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.50.

MKS Stock Up 0.8%

MKSI opened at $252.52 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.29, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.94. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $259.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.86.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 21.36%.

MKS Company Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) designs, manufactures and markets technology solutions that enable advanced processes in a variety of high‐technology and industrial markets. The company’s core offerings include vacuum and gas delivery systems, pressure and flow measurement instruments, optical metrology tools, photonics subsystems and critical components for manufacturing processes. These products support the precise control and monitoring needs of semiconductor, industrial manufacturing, life and health sciences, and research applications.

The company’s product portfolio features mass flow controllers, pressure transducers, vacuum gauges, gas purity monitors, laser-based metrology systems and photonic devices such as lasers and detectors.