Banco Santander S.A. Trims Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Banco Santander S.A. trimmed its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,499 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 3,734 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in MKS were worth $1,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 2.4% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of MKS by 10.6% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,057 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in MKS by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MKS by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,964 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its stake in MKS by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 553 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.56, for a total transaction of $523,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,928,051.96. This represents a 9.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Edward Williams sold 2,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.41, for a total value of $523,845.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $933,332.40. This represents a 35.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,595 shares of company stock worth $16,183,893. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $244.46 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.69. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.84 and a 52 week high of $269.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.94, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.95.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is 22.88%.

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.