MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Sold by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 38.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,224 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,528 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in MKS were worth $1,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of MKS by 616.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in MKS during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in MKS by 55.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MKS in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.00.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $368.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $344.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.94. The firm has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.49 and a 1-year high of $447.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Insider Activity

In other MKS news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total transaction of $688,695.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,322.35. This trade represents a 17.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $630.46. The trade was a 99.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 over the last three months. Company 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.