MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath Sells 8,810 Shares

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $2,779,378.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1 shares in the company, valued at $315.48. The trade was a 99.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $334.11 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $270.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.35. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.22 and a 12 month high of $334.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.90, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The business’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. Equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MKSI shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MKS from $354.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.77.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 3.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,434,000 after purchasing an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 63.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in MKS by 3,545.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,036,000 after purchasing an additional 137,392 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in MKS in the second quarter worth approximately $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its holdings in MKS by 22.8% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,430 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MKS Company 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.