Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,254,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,551 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $200,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Westover Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the 4th quarter worth $240,000. Optimize Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of MKS by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 13,435 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,147,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 1,020.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 14,639 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after buying an additional 13,333 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MKS by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,566 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the 4th quarter worth $5,032,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1 shares in the company, valued at $315.48. This trade represents a 99.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. The trade was a 49.98% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 56,423 shares of company stock worth $17,758,856 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MKSI. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Mizuho set a $400.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.92.

MKS Price Performance

MKS stock opened at $331.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $278.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a PE ratio of 69.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.27 and a 12-month high of $339.00.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

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.