MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) CEO Sells 10,000 Shares

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

John Tseng-Chung Lee also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 22nd, John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of MKS stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $3,154,800.00.

MKS Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI traded up $10.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $320.88. 154,763 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,390,354. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.30 and a 12-month high of $447.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $345.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a PE ratio of 51.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 15.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MKS in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.00.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the second quarter worth $36,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 47.5% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.