MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Peter Cannone III Sells 1,350 Shares of Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Peter Cannone III sold 1,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.40, for a total transaction of $409,590.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,699.60. This trade represents a 14.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Peter Cannone III also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 20th, Peter Cannone III sold 1,250 shares of MKS stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.06, for a total transaction of $322,575.00.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $294.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $19.86 billion, a PE ratio of 61.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.22 and a 52 week high of $326.83. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $260.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.05.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MKS from $354.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.77.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 74.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.