Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MKS Inc. by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 522,415 shares worth about $83.5 million.
• MKS reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.30 versus estimates of $2.00 and revenue of $1.08 billion, up 15.2% year over year. The company also issued Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $2.60 to $3.20.
• Insiders sold shares recently, including the director and CEO, while analysts remain mixed but generally positive overall with an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $324.92.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 522,415 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,247 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.78% of MKS worth $83,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in MKS by 3.6% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 9,170 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position 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 valued at $14,036,000 after acquiring an additional 137,392 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at about $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of MKS by 22.8% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at $6,673,667.80. The trade was a 49.98% 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, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $3,154,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 144,696 shares in the company, valued at $45,648,694.08. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 56,423 shares of company stock valued at $17,758,856 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $331.36 on Wednesday. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.27 and a 1 year high of $339.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company's 50-day moving average is $278.09 and its 200 day moving average is $226.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.99.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MKSI shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $324.92.

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.

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