4,736 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Purchased by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,736 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,170 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in MKS by 63.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in MKS by 3,545.6% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $14,036,000 after purchasing an additional 137,392 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its stake in MKS by 22.8% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKSI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MKS in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.00.

MKS Price Performance

MKS stock opened at $310.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $345.69 and its 200 day moving average is $292.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $21.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $97.30 and a one year high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total value of $688,695.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,033 shares in the company, valued at $3,290,322.35. The trade was a 17.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at $6,673,667.80. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,651 shares of company stock worth $15,425,741. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.