Trillium Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Trillium Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,334 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,042,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in MKS during the fourth quarter worth $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in MKS by 159.7% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,196,000 after acquiring an additional 516,409 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in MKS by 9,165.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $55,232,000 after purchasing an additional 441,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,249,000 after purchasing an additional 340,645 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MKSI. Mizuho set a $360.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total value of $688,695.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,322.35. The trade was a 17.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total value of $6,668,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 37,491 shares of company stock valued at $12,102,072 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $281.88 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $343.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.36. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $97.50 and a fifty-two week high of $447.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued 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. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is 15.95%.

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.