Quantum Portfolio Management LLC Sells 1,494 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Quantum Portfolio Management LLC lowered its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 51.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,494 shares during the period. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth approximately $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of MKS by 159.7% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $134,196,000 after acquiring an additional 516,409 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 9,165.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $55,232,000 after acquiring an additional 441,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.00.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI opened at $368.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.49 and a 1 year high of $447.62. The stock has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $341.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.23.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.MKS’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total transaction of $688,695.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,322.35. This trade represents a 17.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. This trade represents a 49.98% 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 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.