92,856 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 92,856 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,838,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,412 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,824,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,618,000. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,064 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of MKS by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,695 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MKSI shares. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on MKS from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.44, for a total transaction of $71,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,468,668.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the 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 directly owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKS stock opened at $225.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.16 billion, a PE ratio of 51.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.94. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $269.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $234.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.83.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 22.88%.

MKS 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.