Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $3.51 Million Investment in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,897 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,512,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in MKS by 3.6% in 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 during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 3,545.6% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,036,000 after buying an additional 137,392 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at about $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 22.8% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,907,000 after buying an additional 5,430 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $270.48 on Wednesday. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $97.50 and a 52 week high of $447.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $337.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $295.31. The company has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.98. 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 (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.25 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other 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 shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total transaction of $767,269.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $630.46. This represents a 99.92% 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. Insiders sold a total of 12,891 shares of company stock worth $3,919,127 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MKSI. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MKS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.86.

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.