Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $443.37 Million Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,582,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 283,966 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 5.33% of MKS worth $443,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MKS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $85,391,000. 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 buying an additional 542,094 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MKS by 79.3% in the 2nd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 991,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $98,495,000 after buying an additional 438,338 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in MKS by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,249,000 after buying an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in MKS in the 3rd quarter worth $40,023,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

MKSI opened at $244.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $16.43 billion, a PE ratio of 55.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.84 and a 1 year high of $269.91.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John Edward Williams sold 2,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.41, for a total transaction of $523,845.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,640 shares in the company, valued at $933,332.40. This trade represents a 35.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.56, for a total value of $523,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,841 shares in the company, valued at $4,928,051.96. This trade represents a 9.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,295 shares of company stock valued at $16,136,250. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MKSI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark increased their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

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.