Ieq Capital LLC Takes Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 21,702 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,653,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in MKS in the second quarter worth $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 560.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of MKS by 616.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total value of $826,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,400,700.50. This trade represents a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 37,491 shares of company stock valued at $12,102,072 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $279.11 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $341.95 and a 200-day moving average of $294.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.14. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $97.50 and a twelve month high of $447.62. The firm has a market cap of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 44.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.00.

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.