Gerald Colella Sells 20,000 Shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Gerald Colella sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,673,667.80. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI opened at $324.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a PE ratio of 67.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.22 and a fifty-two week high of $339.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.45.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.MKS’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MKS during the 4th quarter valued at $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in MKS in the 4th quarter valued at $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in MKS by 159.7% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $134,196,000 after acquiring an additional 516,409 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 441,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of MKS by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,249,000 after buying an additional 340,645 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

More MKS News

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised long-term earnings estimates for MKS, including FY2026 EPS of $11.86, FY2027 EPS of $15.00, and FY2028 EPS of $18.24, reinforcing the view that profit growth could remain strong. This kind of higher forward guidance can support the stock by signaling improving earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s most recent earnings report beat expectations, with MKS posting $2.30 EPS on $1.08 billion in revenue, both above consensus. Strong results and raised Q2 guidance continue to back the bullish case for MKSI.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has remained broadly constructive, with multiple firms maintaining Buy or Overweight ratings and several raising price targets into the $360-$400 range. That analyst support may be helping keep sentiment positive around MKS.
• Neutral Sentiment: MKS also reaffirmed its quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which provides income support but is too small to be a major near-term stock driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders sold shares recently, including Director Gerald G. Colella, Director Joseph Donahue, and EVP David Philip Henry. While the sales were disclosed as planned transactions in at least some cases, insider selling can still create caution among investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MKSI shares. Mizuho set a $400.00 target price on MKS in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.92.

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.