Senator Investment Group LP Purchases Shares of 65,000 MKS Inc. $MKSI

Senator Investment Group LP purchased a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 65,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,912,000. Senator Investment Group LP owned 0.10% of MKS as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 47.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in MKS by 1.1% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in MKS by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MKS by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 530 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $693,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MKSI. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $382.86.

Key Headlines Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised multiple earnings estimates. Zacks increased its Q3 2026 EPS forecast to $3.60 from $3.22 and its FY2026 estimate to $12.76 from $11.86. Estimates were also raised for FY2027 to $16.52 from $15.00 and FY2028 to $20.10 from $18.24. Several quarterly forecasts through 2028 were increased as well, signaling stronger expected earnings momentum. Earnings Estimates Moving Higher for MKS
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street price targets imply substantial potential upside. The average analyst target cited by Zacks indicates 49.8% potential appreciation, although the article cautions that price targets are not always reliable. The favorable earnings-revision trend could support the stock if it translates into stronger results. Wall Street Analysts Think MKS Could Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho lowered its MKS price target to $330. The target reduction is a negative signal, but the revised target remains well above the level at which the stock recently traded. Mizuho Lowers MKS Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: The CEO sold company shares. CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee reportedly sold 10,000 shares for approximately $3 million. Insider selling can raise concerns about management’s view of near-term valuation or performance, even though it does not necessarily indicate a change in business fundamentals. MKS CEO Sells Shares

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $767,269.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,891 shares of company stock valued at $3,919,127. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Price Performance

MKS stock opened at $255.76 on Monday. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $97.50 and a twelve month high of $447.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $295.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%.The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS’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. As a group, equities analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

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.