Cetera Trust Company N.A Invests $1.30 Million in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,915 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,297,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,254,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $200,438,000 after buying an additional 5,551 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in MKS by 44.2% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $97,635,000 after buying an additional 301,223 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter valued at $147,453,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in MKS by 63.4% during the second 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 acquiring an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in MKS by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,654 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $139,131,000 after acquiring an additional 24,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MKSI. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MKS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.00.

MKS Price Performance

MKSI stock opened at $269.06 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $339.83 and its 200-day moving average is $294.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a PE ratio of 42.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $97.50 and a 1 year high of $447.62.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%.The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 transaction 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 represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 34,991 shares of company stock worth $11,275,822 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.