MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney Sells 1,400 Shares of Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.99, for a total transaction of $446,586.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,118,127.25. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $313.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.77. The company has a market cap of $21.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.22 and a 52-week high of $326.83.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of MKS in the first quarter valued at about $23,809,000. Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 1st quarter worth about $249,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 1st quarter worth about $227,000. Caxton Associates LLP grew its stake in MKS by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 8,017 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bowie Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in MKS in the 1st quarter valued at about $14,844,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.