Expect Equity LLC Has $3.84 Million Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Expect Equity LLC trimmed its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 23.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,015 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 7,475 shares during the period. MKS accounts for approximately 3.7% of Expect Equity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Expect Equity LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $3,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in MKS during the 4th quarter worth $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in MKS during the 4th quarter worth $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in MKS by 159.7% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 516,409 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $55,232,000 after purchasing an additional 441,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in MKS by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,249,000 after purchasing an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MKSI shares. Mizuho set a $400.00 target price on MKS in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given 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, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.92.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKSI opened at $371.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $303.72 and a 200-day moving average of $242.34. The company has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a PE ratio of 77.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.99. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $88.49 and a one year high of $386.01.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total transaction of $688,695.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,290,322.35. The trade was a 17.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About MKS

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.