MKS Inc. $MKSI Stake Lifted by Tidal Investments LLC

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 42.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,846 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,299 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $19,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $21,434,000 after purchasing an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 3,545.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $14,036,000 after buying an additional 137,392 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its stake in MKS by 22.8% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after buying an additional 5,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $261.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $110.60 and a 12 month high of $447.62. The company has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $304.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.97.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%.MKS’s revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Williams sold 457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total value of $131,757.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,181,494.38. The trade was a 10.03% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,757 shares of company stock worth $3,227,146. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKSI has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $382.86.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) provides instruments, systems and process-control solutions used by manufacturers and research organizations. Its technologies help measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas composition, temperature and other conditions involved in advanced manufacturing and laboratory processes.

The company offers vacuum components and systems, gas and vapor delivery equipment, pressure and flow controllers, process-monitoring instruments, analytical solutions, RF and microwave power systems, plasma-generation technologies, and materials-processing equipment.