Insider Selling: MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells 1,400 Shares of Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 1,400 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.99, for a total value of $446,586.00. Following the sale, the director owned 9,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,118,127.25. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

MKS Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ MKSI traded down $7.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $309.35. 369,245 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,399,651. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.22 and a 1-year high of $326.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $254.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a PE ratio of 64.73, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MKSI shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $354.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.23.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 1.1% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 530 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.