MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney Sells 829 Shares of Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 829 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.55, for a total value of $205,218.95. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,656,954.15. The trade was a 7.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

MKS Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $253.71 on Tuesday. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.84 and a 52-week high of $269.91. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.06, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $206.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.93. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MKSI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

More MKS News

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms recently raised price targets on MKSI, signaling continued analyst optimism about the company’s growth prospects; examples of recent target increases include $300 and $305 actions. Price Target Raised to $300.00 Price Target Raised to $305.00
• Positive Sentiment: MKS announced that President & CEO John T.C. Lee will participate in a fireside chat at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 2 (webcast available) — a visibility event that can provide fresh management commentary on demand, margins and roadmap. Company Conference Participation
• Neutral Sentiment: The Street remains broadly constructive on MKSI (multiple buy/overweight ratings and a recent median price target near $255), which supports a positive medium-term view but may already be reflected in the stock’s run-up. Analyst Coverage Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling was disclosed on Feb. 20: CEO John T.C. Lee sold 30,000 shares (~$7.7M) and several other executives/directors sold additional stakes (total ~43,295 shares for roughly $11.1M). These sales materially reduced some insiders’ ownership (CEO down ~16.2%; others down as much as ~36%), which is putting downward pressure on the share price. SEC Form 4 filings are available for review. CEO Form 4

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MKS by 43.4% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 295,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,631,000 after acquiring an additional 89,502 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the third quarter worth about $1,020,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of MKS by 13.1% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 304,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,729,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of MKS by 553.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 7,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

About MKS

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.