23,555 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Purchased by Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel opened a new position in MKS by purchasing 23,555 shares worth about $3.76 million in the fourth quarter.
• Significant insider selling: company insiders have sold 68,503 shares valued at $17.29 million in the last 90 days (insiders now own 0.57% of shares), including a 10,000‑share sale by a director and a 2,043‑share sale by the EVP.
• Recent results and outlook: MKS missed Q4 EPS estimates ($2.47 vs. $2.51) while revenue rose 10.5% to $1.03 billion, set Q1 2026 EPS guidance of $1.72–$2.28, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25, and holds a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $273.08.

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,555 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $3,764,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MKS by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,752,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $959,477,000 after buying an additional 295,480 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 94,692 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MKS by 30.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 297,850 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in MKS by 44.2% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $97,635,000 after acquiring an additional 301,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 63.4% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total transaction of $2,539,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,163,117.49. This represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Edward Williams sold 2,043 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.41, for a total value of $523,845.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at $933,332.40. This trade represents a 35.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $278.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.90. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $242.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.75. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.85 and a fifty-two week high of $281.77.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from MKS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of MKS from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $273.08.

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.

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