KBC Group NV Boosts Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 1,181.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,137 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,098 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in MKS were worth $6,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,950,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in MKS by 0.3% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 132,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $30,542,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. ANB Bank purchased a new position in MKS in the first quarter valued at approximately $296,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new position in MKS in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,329,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in MKS by 7.8% during the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 123,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,333,000 after purchasing an additional 8,904 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MKS Price Performance

MKS stock opened at $345.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.24, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $88.49 and a one year high of $447.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $350.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.06.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $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 11.77 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total transaction of $826,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,400,700.50. This represents a 13.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total transaction of $767,269.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares in the company, valued at $630.46. This represents a 99.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MKSI. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.00.

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.