Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 8,367 MKS Inc. $MKSI

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,367 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,722,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in MKS in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

MKSI stock opened at $281.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $343.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.36. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $97.50 and a 12 month high of $447.62. The company has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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. MKS’s quarterly revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MKSI. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MKS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.00.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. The trade was a 49.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,290,322.35. This trade represents a 17.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,491 shares of company stock worth $12,102,072. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.