BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd Acquires 2,082 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd increased its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 11.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,705 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 2,082 shares during the period. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in MKS were worth $8,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $268.05 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $107.64 and a twelve month high of $447.62. The company has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $295.95.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is 15.95%.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP John Williams sold 457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,181,494.38. This trade represents a 10.03% 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, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the transaction, 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. 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 valued at $3,227,146. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $382.86.

MKS Company Profile

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.