Bessemer Group Inc. Has $25.25 Million Stock Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 158,030 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 54,011 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in MKS were worth $25,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MKSI. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of MKS by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of MKS by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 541 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its stake in MKS by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in MKS by 10.6% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,057 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in MKS by 74.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Price Performance

MKSI stock opened at $303.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $80.22 and a one year high of $326.83. The stock has a market cap of $20.48 billion, a PE ratio of 63.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.40.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total value of $2,539,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 40,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,163,117.49. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total transaction of $7,703,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 154,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,721,291.92. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,258 shares of company stock worth $19,440,224. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKSI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $354.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.23.

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.