MKS Inc. $MKSI Stock: Sterling Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 36.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,777 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $2,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 390.9% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,352 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,074,000 after buying an additional 12,225 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in MKS in the third quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new position in MKS in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 9.6% in the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 181,089 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $48,054,000 after buying an additional 15,862 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 14.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,428 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKS stock opened at $196.55 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $13.29 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.03. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $255.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.14. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.74 and a 52-week high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 15.95%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, EVP John Williams sold 457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total transaction of $131,757.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,181,494.38. This represents a 10.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,227,146 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Monday, June 29th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.93.

MKS Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) develops technologies that enable precision control and measurement in manufacturing and research environments. The company provides instruments, components, systems and process-control solutions used to measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas delivery, temperature and other critical production conditions.

Its product portfolio includes vacuum solutions, pressure and flow-control instruments, gas and vapor delivery systems, plasma and reactive-gas technologies, power delivery systems, process-monitoring equipment, analytical instruments and materials-characterization tools.