MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells $312,200.00 in Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.20, for a total value of $312,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,739,555. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI traded down $12.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $301.81. The stock had a trading volume of 315,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,394,268. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.22 and a 12-month high of $326.83.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of MKS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth approximately $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth approximately $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of MKS by 159.7% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,196,000 after purchasing an additional 516,409 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 9,165.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $55,232,000 after purchasing an additional 441,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 63.4% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,249,000 after purchasing an additional 340,645 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MKSI. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $320.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.23.

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.