Engineers Gate Manager LP Trims Stake in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its MKS stake by 77.8% in the second quarter, selling 15,419 shares and retaining 4,399 shares valued at approximately $1.96 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.79% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.86. Recent ratings included upgrades and price targets as high as $500.
• MKS reported quarterly earnings of $3.30 per share, beating estimates by $0.39, while revenue rose 28.3% year over year to $1.25 billion. The stock opened at $231.50, well below its 52-week high of $447.62.

Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 77.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,399 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 15,419 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in MKS were worth $1,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,254,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $200,438,000 after buying an additional 5,551 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MKS in the fourth quarter worth about $147,453,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in MKS by 159.7% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $134,196,000 after acquiring an additional 516,409 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in MKS by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 522,415 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $83,482,000 after purchasing an additional 41,247 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at about $231,673,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MKSI shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised MKS from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $453.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised MKS from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $382.86.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total transaction of $75,288.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,729,341.20. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,227,146 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Trading Down 3.2%

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $231.50 on Wednesday. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.74 and a 52 week high of $447.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $297.12 and a 200 day moving average of $295.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.92, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. MKS's revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. MKS's payout ratio is 15.95%.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc NASDAQ: MKSI provides instruments, systems and process-control solutions used by manufacturers and research organizations. Its technologies help measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas composition, temperature and other conditions involved in advanced manufacturing and laboratory processes.

The company offers vacuum components and systems, gas and vapor delivery equipment, pressure and flow controllers, process-monitoring instruments, analytical solutions, RF and microwave power systems, plasma-generation technologies, and materials-processing equipment.

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