72,347 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Purchased by PDT Partners LLC

PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 72,347 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,180,000. MKS accounts for about 1.7% of PDT Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,663,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,816,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in MKS during the second quarter valued at $70,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in MKS during the second quarter valued at $1,297,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in MKS by 2.7% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 45,270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $20,136,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MKS Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of MKSI opened at $270.48 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $337.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.31. The company has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.72. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $97.50 and a 1-year high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%.The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total transaction of $767,269.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares in the company, valued at $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, EVP John Edward Williams sold 457 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total transaction of $131,757.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,181,494.38. This trade represents a 10.03% 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. Insiders sold a total of 12,891 shares of company stock valued at $3,919,127 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MKSI shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. 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. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.