Strs Ohio Buys 3,500 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Strs Ohio boosted its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,600 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in MKS were worth $9,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 13.1% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in shares of MKS by 59.2% during the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,677 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MKS by 50.2% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,897 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter worth $1,681,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,011,514.03. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages raised price targets, signaling stronger analyst conviction — TD Cowen bumped its target to $230. MKS Inc. price target raised to $230 from $200 at TD Cowen
• Positive Sentiment: Large upward revisions from other firms increased bullish interest (Needham to $260, Bank of America to $255, Morgan Stanley to $258, Cantor Fitzgerald to $300), suggesting analysts see meaningful upside vs. earlier levels. Analyst price target coverage (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: MKS raised its Q4 guidance ahead of earnings (Needham also raised its target after the guidance update), which supports expectations for continued revenue/EPS strength. MKS increases Q4 guidance ahead of earnings; Needham hikes price target
• Positive Sentiment: Equity research pieces highlight MKS’s momentum and strong earnings-surprise track record, which can support further upside if the company sustains beat-and-raise results. Will MKS (MKSI) Beat Estimates Again?
• Neutral Sentiment: Not all upgrades are uniformly bullish: Wells Fargo raised its target to $210 but kept an “equal weight” rating, implying limited near-term upside from its view. Wells Fargo price target note
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target dispersion and a premium valuation (market commentary points to a high P/E) create short-term volatility; despite bullish reports, these mixed signals likely contributed to profit-taking and the intraday pullback.

MKS Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $217.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.68, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.92. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.84 and a 52-week high of $233.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.65.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $963.87 million. MKS had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 21.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $187.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of MKS from $180.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.75.

MKS 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.