Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 17,833 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 32.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,486 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 17,833 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.06% of MKS worth $8,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new position in MKS during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,329,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in MKS by 3,011.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $4,434,000 after buying an additional 18,674 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in MKS by 7.8% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 123,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $28,333,000 after acquiring an additional 8,904 shares in the last quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MKS in the first quarter worth about $14,844,000. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the first quarter worth about $11,950,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Stock Down 4.1%

MKSI stock opened at $315.70 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $351.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $283.07. The company has a market capitalization of $21.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.49 and a 12 month high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total transaction of $826,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,400,700.50. This trade represents a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $3,154,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,648,694.08. The trade was a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKSI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.00.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.