Insider Selling: MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells $6,668,000.00 in Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Gerald Colella sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total value of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

MKS Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $324.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $276.48 and its 200-day moving average is $224.45. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.22 and a 52-week high of $339.00. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MKSI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.92.

Key Stories Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised long-term earnings estimates for MKS, including FY2026 EPS of $11.86, FY2027 EPS of $15.00, and FY2028 EPS of $18.24, reinforcing the view that profit growth could remain strong. This kind of higher forward guidance can support the stock by signaling improving earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s most recent earnings report beat expectations, with MKS posting $2.30 EPS on $1.08 billion in revenue, both above consensus. Strong results and raised Q2 guidance continue to back the bullish case for MKSI.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has remained broadly constructive, with multiple firms maintaining Buy or Overweight ratings and several raising price targets into the $360-$400 range. That analyst support may be helping keep sentiment positive around MKS.
• Neutral Sentiment: MKS also reaffirmed its quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which provides income support but is too small to be a major near-term stock driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders sold shares recently, including Director Gerald G. Colella, Director Joseph Donahue, and EVP David Philip Henry. While the sales were disclosed as planned transactions in at least some cases, insider selling can still create caution among investors.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in MKS during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in MKS by 560.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in MKS by 616.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in MKS by 74.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in MKS during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.