Park West Asset Management LLC Takes $61.71 Million Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Park West Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 138,740 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $61,712,000. MKS comprises approximately 4.2% of Park West Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Park West Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of MKS as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of MKS during the second quarter worth about $231,673,000. Strategic Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,796,000. Light Street Capital Management LLC bought a new position in MKS in the 2nd quarter worth about $46,170,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,107,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $630.46. This represents a 99.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 company'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 directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at $40,703,699.76. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 a total of 12,891 shares of company stock valued at $3,919,127 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MKSI shares. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MKS from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $382.86.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $271.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.38 billion, a PE ratio of 43.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.98. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.50 and a 12-month high of $447.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $335.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. The company 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

About MKS

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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