Legal & General Group Plc Has $10.76 Million Stock Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 108,286 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,106 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in MKS were worth $10,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in shares of MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in MKS during the second quarter worth $46,000. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in MKS by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in MKS by 1,168.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 799 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKSI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $175.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Benchmark boosted their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.64.

MKS Stock Up 4.4%

MKS stock opened at $158.74 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $139.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $160.18. The company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 2.00.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. MKS had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 7.11%.The business had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $963.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total transaction of $36,642.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,412,182.68. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.85, for a total transaction of $29,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,923,410.55. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $716,597. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc provides foundational technology solutions to semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications in the United States, Germany, China, South Korea, and internationally. It operates through Vacuum Solutions Division (VSD), Photonics Solutions Division (PSD), and Material Solutions Division (MSD) segments.