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

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 transaction, the director directly owned 10,033 shares in the company, valued at $3,290,322.35. This represents a 17.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKSI opened at $324.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $276.48 and its 200-day moving average is $224.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.22 and a 12-month high of $339.00.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised long-term earnings estimates for MKS, including FY2026 EPS of $11.86, FY2027 EPS of $15.00, and FY2028 EPS of $18.24, reinforcing the view that profit growth could remain strong. This kind of higher forward guidance can support the stock by signaling improving earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s most recent earnings report beat expectations, with MKS posting $2.30 EPS on $1.08 billion in revenue, both above consensus. Strong results and raised Q2 guidance continue to back the bullish case for MKSI.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has remained broadly constructive, with multiple firms maintaining Buy or Overweight ratings and several raising price targets into the $360-$400 range. That analyst support may be helping keep sentiment positive around MKS.
• Neutral Sentiment: MKS also reaffirmed its quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which provides income support but is too small to be a major near-term stock driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders sold shares recently, including Director Gerald G. Colella, Director Joseph Donahue, and EVP David Philip Henry. While the sales were disclosed as planned transactions in at least some cases, insider selling can still create caution among investors.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 1.1% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 530 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $354.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.92.

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.