323,364 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Bought by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 323,364 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,023,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 3.6% during 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 worth $21,434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in MKS during the second quarter worth approximately $336,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 9.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in MKS by 4.1% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 10,242 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in MKS by 8,321.7% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,053 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 4,993 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Edward Williams sold 2,043 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.41, for a total value of $523,845.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $933,332.40. The trade was a 35.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 829 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.55, for a total transaction of $205,218.95. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,656,954.15. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 63,595 shares of company stock worth $16,183,893. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MKSI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.46.

MKS Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $244.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.95. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.84 and a 52-week high of $269.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $212.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 22.88%.

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.