MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Eric Robert Taranto Sells 1,453 Shares

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 1,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.55, for a total value of $359,690.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,013 shares in the company, valued at $4,954,218.15. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

MKS Stock Performance

MKSI traded down $6.50 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $252.77. 646,595 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,665,215. The company’s 50-day moving average is $204.86 and its 200 day moving average is $156.84. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 57.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.95. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.84 and a 52 week high of $269.91.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.88%.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in MKS by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 530 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in MKS by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in MKS by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in MKS by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 15,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MKSI shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. 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 research report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

Key Headlines Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management will present at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 2 (live webcast available), providing a platform to update investors and field questions. This raises visibility and could support multiple analyst views. MKS Inc. to Participate in Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple published price‑target raises from analysts in the last 48 hours (examples include targets raised into the $255–$305 range), which signal continued bullish analyst conviction around MKS’s growth outlook. MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Price Target Raised to $300.00
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling disclosed (Feb. 20 filings): CEO John T.C. Lee sold 30,000 shares (~$7.7M at ~$256.77), and several EVPs/directors/CAO sold additional holdings. Large, clustered insider sales often prompt short‑term share weakness as investors interpret them as liquidity/rotation or signal on timing. SEC Form 4 for the CEO sale is posted. SEC Filing: John T.C. Lee Form 4

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.