Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Invests $77.04 Million in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 173,207 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,043,000.

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

Insider Activity at MKS

In other news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $630.46. The trade was a 99.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,491 shares of company stock worth $12,102,072. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MKSI. Wall Street Zen raised MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 price target 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.00.

MKS Stock Down 1.0%

MKSI opened at $279.11 on Friday. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $97.50 and a one year high of $447.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $341.95 and its 200-day moving average is $294.25. The company has a market capitalization of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 44.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.98.

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

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.95%.

MKS 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.