Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Stake in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lowered its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 50.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in MKS were worth $621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in MKS by 3.6% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in MKS by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in MKS by 3,545.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,036,000 after buying an additional 137,392 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its stake in MKS by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,907,000 after buying an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

MKS stock opened at $320.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $266.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.17. The company has a market capitalization of $21.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.08, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.22 and a fifty-two week high of $326.83.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKSI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.99, for a total value of $446,586.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,118,127.25. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $1,007,335.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,313 shares of company stock valued at $6,253,264. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

MKS 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.