KBC Group NV Has $6.01 Million Stake in MKS Inc. $MKSI

KBC Group NV increased its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 1,181.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,137 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,098 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in MKS were worth $6,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in MKS during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 616.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 55.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $6,668,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,017 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,400,700.50. This represents a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.00.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $345.30 on Friday. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.49 and a 1-year high of $447.62. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a PE ratio of 72.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $281.06.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. 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 forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

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.