MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Elizabeth Mora Sells 300 Shares

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.44, for a total value of $71,832.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,468,668.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

MKS Stock Down 4.8%

MKSI stock opened at $232.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.94. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.84 and a 12 month high of $269.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in MKS in the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,880,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 146.4% during the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 912,380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $90,654,000 after purchasing an additional 542,094 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 159.7% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,196,000 after purchasing an additional 516,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of MKS by 9,165.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $55,232,000 after purchasing an additional 441,432 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MKSI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $320.00 price objective on MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

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.