Insider Selling: MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells $75,288.00 in Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total value of $75,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,845 shares in the company, valued at $4,729,341.20. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

MKS Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $260.31 on Friday. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.14 and a 1-year high of $447.62. The company has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.52, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $315.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $295.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 15.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MKSI shares. Weiss Ratings cut MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.86.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of MKS in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 47.5% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Company 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.