Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 5,551 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management slightly increased its MKS stake in the fourth quarter, buying 5,551 shares and bringing its holdings to 1,254,049 shares worth about $200.4 million.
• Insider selling accelerated, with CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath and EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke among executives selling shares; insiders sold 56,423 shares total over the last 90 days.
• MKS posted solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $324.92.

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,254,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,551 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.87% of MKS worth $200,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in MKS by 3.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $21,434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,170 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in MKS by 63.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MKS by 3,545.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $14,036,000 after purchasing an additional 137,392 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of MKS by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $315.48. This trade represents a 99.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total transaction of $1,393,338.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 49,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,817,513.66. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 56,423 shares of company stock valued at $17,758,856 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MKSI. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho set a $400.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $324.92.

MKS Stock Performance

MKSI opened at $331.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.32, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $278.09 and a 200 day moving average of $226.08. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.27 and a fifty-two week high of $339.00. 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 (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. MKS's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

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.

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.