MKS Inc. $MKSI Stock Holdings Increased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in MKS by 30.8% in Q3, buying 297,850 shares to hold 1,265,365 shares (about 1.88% of the company) worth roughly $156.6 million.
• Several analysts raised price targets (Citigroup to $295, Needham and Morgan Stanley to $300), and MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $273.46.
• Insiders have been selling recently — CEO John Tseng‑Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares at an average $256.77 and insiders sold 68,163 shares over the past three months — while MKS posted $2.47 EPS (slightly missing estimates) on $1.03B revenue (up 10.5%) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 30.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,265,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 297,850 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.88% of MKS worth $156,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 43.4% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 295,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,631,000 after purchasing an additional 89,502 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of MKS in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,020,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $5,856,000 after buying an additional 6,846 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 553.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 7,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 6,243 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 304,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $37,729,000 after buying an additional 6,725 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $273.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total value of $7,703,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 154,696 shares in the company, valued at $39,721,291.92. This trade represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,254 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,063,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,794 shares in the company, valued at $13,448,500. The trade was a 7.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 68,163 shares of company stock worth $17,215,417. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MKS Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $218.36 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company's 50-day moving average price is $222.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.48. The company has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 49.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $269.91.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. MKS's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from MKS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. MKS's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.88%.

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.

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