56,650 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Purchased by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 56,650 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,198,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 47.5% in the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in MKS by 560.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKSI. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp increased their target price on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MKS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.00.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total value of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,491 shares of company stock valued at $12,102,072. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Up 0.1%

MKSI opened at $281.88 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $343.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.36. The firm has a market cap 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 twelve month low of $97.50 and a twelve month high of $447.62. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 15.95%.

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.