Leuthold Group LLC Invests $320,000 in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 5.7% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 4,856 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,242 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 74.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 133.3% in the 3rd quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 15,849 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,962,000 after purchasing an additional 9,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in MKS by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212,041 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,244,000 after purchasing an additional 55,545 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $249.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a PE ratio of 60.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.27. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.84 and a 12 month high of $266.08.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $180.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho set a $260.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.