Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,721 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in MKS by 616.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MKS Stock Down 6.4%

Shares of MKSI opened at $300.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.30 and a 12-month high of $447.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $345.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.76.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKSI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MKS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $630.46. The trade was a 99.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,301 shares of company stock worth $18,036,251. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.