Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Has $4.50 Million Stock Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 1,550.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,334 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 34,132 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP owned 0.05% of MKS worth $4,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 2.4% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 10.6% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,057 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 74.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 1.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,964 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its stake in MKS by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 553 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total value of $2,539,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,163,117.49. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Edward Williams sold 2,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.41, for a total transaction of $523,845.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $933,332.40. This trade represents a 35.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $213.45 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.84 and a 12-month high of $269.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $226.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.67.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MKSI shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.46.

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.