Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Buys 34,132 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 1,550.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,334 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,132 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in MKS were worth $4,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in MKS by 3.6% during 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 buying an additional 9,170 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in MKS by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,964 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in shares of MKS during the second quarter valued at $410,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MKS by 50.2% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,897 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 2.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,258,108 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $125,025,000 after purchasing an additional 35,065 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.46.

MKS Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $213.45 on Monday. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.84 and a 1 year high of $269.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The business’s 50-day moving average is $226.63 and its 200-day moving average is $170.67. The company has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.93.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. MKS’s payout ratio is 22.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.44, for a total value of $71,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,468,668.72. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $1,007,335.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099 over the last ninety days. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.