MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells $2,529,000.00 in Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Gerald Colella sold 10,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.90, for a total value of $2,529,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,649,299.30. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $244.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.84 and a 12-month high of $269.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $212.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.95.

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). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 4th quarter worth $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter worth about $95,880,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 542,094 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in MKS by 159.7% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $134,196,000 after purchasing an additional 516,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in MKS by 9,165.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $55,232,000 after buying an additional 441,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of several research reports. Benchmark upped their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.46.

MKS Company 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.