Bessemer Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. cut its MKS stake by 25.4% in the first quarter, selling 40,179 shares and leaving it with 117,851 shares worth about $27.1 million.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on MKS, with several firms raising price targets; the stock now has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $380.
• MKS reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $2.30 EPS on $1.08 billion in revenue, while insiders also sold shares during the quarter, including the CEO and an EVP.

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,851 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 40,179 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of MKS worth $27,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in MKS by 560.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in MKS by 616.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MKSI shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total value of $826,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,341 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,400,700.50. The trade was a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $3,154,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,696 shares in the company, valued at $45,648,694.08. This represents a 6.46% 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 sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Trading Down 2.2%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $324.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $348.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $275.27. The firm has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.93, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.93. 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 one year low of $88.49 and a one year high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The firm's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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