Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Acquires New Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,107 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MKS by 4.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,752,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $959,477,000 after purchasing an additional 295,480 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in MKS by 7.7% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,321,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $163,609,000 after buying an additional 94,692 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in MKS by 30.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,265,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $156,602,000 after buying an additional 297,850 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 79.3% during the second quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 991,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $98,495,000 after buying an additional 438,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in MKS by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $97,635,000 after buying an additional 301,223 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKS stock opened at $243.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a PE ratio of 55.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.94. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.84 and a 52 week high of $269.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.50.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The business 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 business posted $2.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were 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 was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 340 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.77, for a total value of $72,681.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,221,711.61. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.44, for a total value of $71,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,468,668.72. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099. Insiders own 0.57% 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.