MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Sold by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Key Points

• Artemis Investment Management cut its MKS position by 39.9% in the third quarter, selling 56,656 shares and retaining 85,330 shares worth approximately $22.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.79% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $375.93, despite targets ranging from $325 to $475.
• MKS reported quarterly earnings of $3.30 per share and revenue of $1.25 billion, exceeding estimates, while shares opened at $260.38—down 4.7%—and the company maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share.

Artemis Investment Management LLP lessened its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,330 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 56,656 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned about 0.13% of MKS worth $22,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at $231,673,000. Blue Grotto Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MKS by 96.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 415,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $66,397,000 after buying an additional 203,652 shares in the last quarter. Delta Global Management LP boosted its position in MKS by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Delta Global Management LP now owns 327,390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $52,317,000 after buying an additional 175,855 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at $140,866,000. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at $128,303,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKSI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MKS from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of MKS from $439.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $375.93.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total value of $75,288.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,729,341.20. This represents a 1.57% 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 a total of 10,757 shares of company stock worth $3,227,146 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $260.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $273.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of 41.53, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 2.03. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.91 and a 52 week high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.20 billion. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

MKS Company Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc develops technologies used to measure, control and analyze the processes involved in manufacturing semiconductors, electronics, specialty materials and other industrial products. The company serves original equipment manufacturers and production facilities worldwide, with solutions spanning vacuum control, pressure measurement, gas and fluid delivery, process monitoring and control.

Its product portfolio includes vacuum gauges and valves, mass flow controllers, gas and vapor delivery systems, pressure controllers, plasma-generation and power-delivery systems, analytical instruments, lasers and photonics equipment.

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