MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney Sells 340 Shares of Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 340 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.77, for a total transaction of $72,681.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,221,711.61. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $213.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a PE ratio of 48.84, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $226.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.77. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $269.91.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s payout ratio is 22.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho set a $320.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.46.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% in 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 in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of MKS by 616.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.