Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 1,731 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Sanctuary Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 19.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,342 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,731 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $1,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in MKS during the 1st quarter valued at about $498,000. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in shares of MKS by 27.6% in the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 5,066 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 1.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 16,140 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,709,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 57.1% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in MKS by 3,011.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after purchasing an additional 18,674 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MKSI. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total transaction of $1,393,338.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 49,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,817,513.66. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total value of $6,668,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $344.84 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $350.16 and a 200 day moving average of $279.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.49 and a 12-month high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

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.