Jain Global LLC Increases Stock Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Jain Global LLC increased its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 132.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,197 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,878 shares during the quarter. Jain Global LLC owned about 0.20% of MKS worth $16,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in MKS in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth $38,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MKSI. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research 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 given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total transaction of $2,539,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,017 shares in the company, valued at $10,163,117.49. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total transaction of $7,703,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 154,696 shares in the company, valued at $39,721,291.92. This trade represents a 16.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Down 0.0%

MKSI opened at $213.45 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.67. 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 cap of $14.35 billion, a PE ratio of 48.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.93.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly 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). MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

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.