Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,717 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MKS by 3,545.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,036,000 after purchasing an additional 137,392 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of MKS by 22.8% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MKS Stock Down 8.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $301.65 on Friday. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.46 and a 52-week high of $341.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $285.07 and a 200-day moving average of $230.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a PE ratio of 63.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.92.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, 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 link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $315.48. This represents a 99.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,855 shares of company stock worth $16,751,520. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.