Expect Equity LLC Purchases Shares of 10,655 MKS Inc. $MKSI

Expect Equity LLC purchased a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,655 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,739,000. MKS accounts for about 3.0% of Expect Equity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in MKS during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of MKSI opened at $270.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $337.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.31. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $97.50 and a 1 year high of $447.62.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The business’s revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, EVP John Edward Williams sold 457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total value of $131,757.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,181,494.38. The trade was a 10.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 12,891 shares of company stock worth $3,919,127 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $382.86.

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.