MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Sold by Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 51.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,750 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,822 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 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 acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in MKS by 616.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in MKS during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 55.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $315.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.05, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.49 and a fifty-two week high of $447.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $351.71 and a 200 day moving average of $283.07.

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

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total value of $688,695.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,290,322.35. The trade was a 17.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $3,154,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,696 shares in the company, valued at $45,648,694.08. The trade was a 6.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on MKS from $355.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.00.

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.