Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Makes New Investment in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,145 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,288,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 3.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,434,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in MKS by 63.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MKS by 3,545.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,036,000 after acquiring an additional 137,392 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter worth $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its stake in shares of MKS by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKSI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho set a $360.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MKS in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded MKS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.00.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $300.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 47.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $345.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $293.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $97.30 and a twelve month high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% 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 hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Edward Williams sold 457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total value of $131,757.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,181,494.38. This trade represents a 10.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,301 shares of company stock valued at $18,036,251. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.