Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 55,545 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 35.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,041 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,545 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in MKS were worth $26,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in MKS in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of MKS in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction of $47,643.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,011,514.03. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. 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. Zacks Research upgraded MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of MKS from $180.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.50.

MKS Trading Up 7.1%

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $243.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.03. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $246.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a PE ratio of 58.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.95.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $963.87 million. MKS had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About MKS

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.