MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells $72,681.80 in Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.77, for a total value of $72,681.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,221,711.61. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $213.91. The stock had a trading volume of 406,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,590,769. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $225.73 and a 200-day moving average of $169.03. The firm has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.90, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $269.91.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during 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%. MKS’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 3.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,434,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $305,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MKS by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 50.2% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,897 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,974 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

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.