2,165 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Purchased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Archer Investment Corp raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 27.6% in the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 5,066 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in MKS by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 16,140 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,709,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in MKS by 57.1% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in MKS by 3,011.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 18,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MKS during the first quarter worth approximately $319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $324.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $348.85 and a 200 day moving average of $275.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.49 and a 52 week high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. The business’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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of MKS 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,400,700.50. The trade was a 13.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total transaction of $1,393,338.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,817,513.66. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MKSI. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MKS in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned 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 target price of $380.00.

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.