MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) CFO Sells $2,779,378.80 in Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $315.48. This represents a 99.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

MKS Trading Up 3.6%

MKS stock traded up $11.58 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $332.20. The company had a trading volume of 511,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,387,951. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.22 and a 1-year high of $334.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $22.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on MKSI shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $354.00 to $374.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% in 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 in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of MKS by 616.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MKS by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.