Equitable Trust Co. Decreases Stock Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. cut its MKS position by 38.5% in the first quarter, selling 4,528 shares and leaving it with 7,224 shares worth about $1.66 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally positive: MKS has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $380, though Goldman Sachs maintained a sell rating while several others reiterated buy or outperform ratings.
• MKS reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equal to a 0.3% yield.

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 38.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,224 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 4,528 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in MKS were worth $1,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of MKS by 616.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 55.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MKSI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $453.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.00.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total value of $688,695.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,290,322.35. This trade represents a 17.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $368.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $344.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.94. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.49 and a 52 week high of $447.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.