Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 583,114 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Madison Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 63.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 338,336 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 583,114 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $77,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new stake in MKS during the first quarter valued at $1,329,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in MKS by 3,011.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 18,674 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MKS in the fourth quarter worth about $764,000. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP purchased a new position in MKS in the fourth quarter worth about $27,965,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in shares of MKS by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 15,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total transaction of $767,269.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total value of $826,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at $5,400,700.50. The trade was a 13.27% 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 have sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $324.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.49 and a 1-year high of $447.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $348.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $277.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MKSI shares. KeyCorp increased 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. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.00.

MKS Profile

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.