MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Eric Robert Taranto Sells 4,568 Shares of Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $1,007,335.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Eric Robert Taranto also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 20th, Eric Robert Taranto sold 1,453 shares of MKS stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.55, for a total value of $359,690.15.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $218.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $222.10 and a 200-day moving average of $167.48. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.84 and a 52 week high of $269.91. The company has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.97, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.93.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.88%.

Institutional Trading of MKS

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in MKS in the 4th quarter worth $95,880,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 146.4% in the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 912,380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $90,654,000 after purchasing an additional 542,094 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in MKS by 159.7% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,196,000 after purchasing an additional 516,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 9,165.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $55,232,000 after purchasing an additional 441,432 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MKSI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $320.00 price objective on MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.46.

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.