MKS Inc. $MKSI Stock Holdings Lessened by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 19.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 614,230 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 151,365 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.91% of MKS worth $141,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 57.1% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 3,011.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MKS during the 1st quarter valued at $319,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of MKS by 2.8% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,766 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the first quarter worth $200,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other MKS news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total value of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $3,154,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 144,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,648,694.08. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $353.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.02, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $347.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.74. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.49 and a 12-month high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.00.

MKS Company 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.