MKS Inc. $MKSI Stock: Cooke & Bieler LP Boosts Holdings

Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 181,089 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,862 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.27% of MKS worth $48,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MKS by 14.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,428 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd grew its holdings in MKS by 283.6% during the third quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd now owns 15,817 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,197,000 after acquiring an additional 11,694 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in MKS by 1.5% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,781 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,984,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in MKS during the third quarter valued at approximately $21,242,000. Finally, DUTCH ASSET Corp purchased a new position in MKS during the third quarter valued at approximately $672,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Stock Up 2.3%

MKSI opened at $216.10 on Thursday. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.72 and a twelve month high of $447.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $260.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.88. The company has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 2.03.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. MKS’s quarterly 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. Sell-side analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKSI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total value of $75,288.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,729,341.20. The trade was a 1.57% 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 have sold a total of 10,757 shares of company stock worth $3,227,146 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Company Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) develops technologies that enable precision control and measurement in manufacturing and research environments. The company provides instruments, components, systems and process-control solutions used to measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas delivery, temperature and other critical production conditions.

Its product portfolio includes vacuum solutions, pressure and flow-control instruments, gas and vapor delivery systems, plasma and reactive-gas technologies, power delivery systems, process-monitoring equipment, analytical instruments and materials-characterization tools.