Sanctuary Advisors LLC Reduces Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Sanctuary Advisors LLC decreased its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 19.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,342 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,731 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $1,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in MKS in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 616.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MKS Trading Down 0.2%

MKSI opened at $344.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.29 billion, a PE ratio of 72.14, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $350.16 and a 200-day moving average of $279.81. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.49 and a 52 week high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315.48. This represents a 99.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total transaction of $1,393,338.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 49,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,817,513.66. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MKSI shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.00.

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.