Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Takes $77.04 Million Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 173,207 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,043,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned about 0.26% of MKS as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,254,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $200,438,000 after purchasing an additional 5,551 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of MKS by 44.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $97,635,000 after buying an additional 301,223 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth approximately $147,453,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 63.4% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,249,000 after buying an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MKS by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,654 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $139,131,000 after buying an additional 24,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total value of $688,695.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,033 shares in the company, valued at $3,290,322.35. The trade was a 17.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% 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 37,491 shares of company stock valued at $12,102,072 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

MKS stock opened at $279.11 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $97.50 and a 12 month high of $447.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $341.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.25. The company has a market cap of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 44.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKSI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.00.

MKS 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.