Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 55,945 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its MKS position by 60.2% in the first quarter, selling 55,945 shares and leaving it with 36,911 shares worth about $8.48 million.
• Insiders also sold shares, including EVP David Philip Henry and CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath, with total insider selling over the last 90 days reaching 53,949 shares valued at $17.45 million.
• MKS reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates and raising Q2 2026 guidance, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus price target of $343.77.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 60.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,911 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 55,945 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.05% of MKS worth $8,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 159.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 9,165.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted 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 worth $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total transaction of $826,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at $5,400,700.50. The trade was a 13.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1 shares in the company, valued at $315.48. This represents a 99.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $388.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.30, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock's 50-day moving average is $322.93 and its 200 day moving average is $254.13. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.49 and a 1-year high of $421.58.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $343.77.

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.

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