MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Joseph Donahue Sells 2,100 Shares

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Joseph Donahue sold 2,100 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total transaction of $688,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,322.35. This trade represents a 17.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

MKS Stock Performance

MKSI stock traded down $3.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $324.69. The company had a trading volume of 768,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,380,595. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.22 and a twelve month high of $339.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.56. The company has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the 4th quarter valued at $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in MKS in the 4th quarter worth $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in MKS by 159.7% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,196,000 after acquiring an additional 516,409 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 9,165.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $55,232,000 after acquiring an additional 441,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.