Light Street Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Light Street Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 103,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,170,000. MKS makes up approximately 5.1% of Light Street Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 137,392 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MKS during the second quarter valued at $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its position in 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 valued at $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Up 0.5%

MKSI stock opened at $271.75 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $97.50 and a twelve month high of $447.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $335.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $295.63.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given 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 15.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, EVP John Edward Williams sold 457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total value of $131,757.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,181,494.38. This trade represents a 10.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 12,891 shares of company stock valued at $3,919,127 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $382.86.

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.