MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke Sells 4,254 Shares

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,254 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,063,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,448,500. This represents a 7.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ MKSI traded down $6.50 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $252.77. 646,595 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,665,215. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $204.86 and a 200-day moving average of $156.84. 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 $16.98 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 one year low of $54.84 and a one year high of $269.91.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly 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). The company 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 last year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MKSI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 560.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in MKS by 616.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in MKS during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More MKS News

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.