Bowie Capital Management LLC Takes $18.97 Million Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Bowie Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 42,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,970,000. MKS comprises 0.8% of Bowie Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in MKS by 560.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 616.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in MKS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in MKS in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of MKS 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at $5,400,700.50. The trade was a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 37,491 shares of company stock valued at $12,102,072 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price target on MKS in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised MKS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MKS in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.00.

MKS Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $281.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a PE ratio of 44.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $97.50 and a 52-week high of $447.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $343.48 and its 200 day moving average is $294.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.14.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

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.