NewEdge Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors LLC cut its MKS holdings by 72.6% in the second quarter, selling 17,856 shares and retaining 6,724 shares valued at approximately $2.99 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.79% of MKS stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $382.86; recent firms reiterated or issued “overweight,” “outperform,” or “buy” recommendations.
• MKS reported quarterly EPS of $3.30, beating estimates of $2.91, while revenue rose 28.3% year over year to $1.25 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, for an annualized yield of approximately 0.4%.

NewEdge Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,724 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 17,856 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in MKS were worth $2,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MKSI. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in MKS by 129.6% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 434 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in MKS by 2.9% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,252 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in MKS by 24.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in MKS by 0.7% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $8,263,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MKSI. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MKS in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $453.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised MKS from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $382.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Williams sold 457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total transaction of $131,757.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,181,494.38. This trade represents a 10.03% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,757 shares of company stock worth $3,227,146. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $235.28 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $294.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $295.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.74 and a 12-month high of $447.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior 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 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc NASDAQ: MKSI provides instruments, systems and process-control solutions used by manufacturers and research organizations. Its technologies help measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas composition, temperature and other conditions involved in advanced manufacturing and laboratory processes.

The company offers vacuum components and systems, gas and vapor delivery equipment, pressure and flow controllers, process-monitoring instruments, analytical solutions, RF and microwave power systems, plasma-generation technologies, and materials-processing equipment.

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