LSV Asset Management Makes New Investment in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management initiated a new position in MKS Inc. during the fourth quarter, buying 31,492 shares valued at about $5.03 million.
• MKS reported stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue, with EPS of $2.30 versus the $2.00 estimate and revenue of $1.08 billion, up 15.2% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with analysts giving MKS a “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $318.77, while the stock recently traded above that level at $334.11.

LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 31,492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $5,032,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKSI. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 9,165.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $55,232,000 after buying an additional 441,432 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $87,249,000 after buying an additional 340,645 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 316.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 426,509 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $52,789,000 after buying an additional 324,195 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,023,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $97,635,000 after buying an additional 301,223 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $318.77.

MKS Trading Up 4.2%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $334.11 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.35. The stock has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.22 and a 12-month high of $334.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1 shares of the company's stock, valued at $315.48. The trade was a 99.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,439 shares in the company, valued at $15,817,513.66. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,123 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,743. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MKS 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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