Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Vanguard Group reduced its stake in MKS by 3.4% in Q4, selling 264,792 shares and now holds 7,487,305 shares—about 11.15% of the company, valued at roughly $1.20 billion.
• Company insiders have been net sellers: the CEO sold 30,000 shares (~$7.7M) and the EVP sold 4,254 shares, with insiders offloading 68,503 shares (~$17.29M) in the last 90 days; insiders now own 0.57%.
• Results and outlook: MKS missed Q4 EPS at $2.47 (vs. $2.51 est.) while revenue rose 10.5% to $1.03B, management set Q1 EPS guidance of $1.72–$2.28, and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $280.77.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,487,305 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 264,792 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.15% of MKS worth $1,196,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in MKS by 9,165.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $55,232,000 after acquiring an additional 441,432 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MKS by 63.4% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 316.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 426,509 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $52,789,000 after purchasing an additional 324,195 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in MKS during the third quarter worth $40,023,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 44.2% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $97,635,000 after purchasing an additional 301,223 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,254 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,063,500.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total transaction of $7,703,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 154,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,721,291.92. The trade was a 16.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MKSI shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $320.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.77.

MKS Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $279.38 on Friday. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.49 and a fifty-two week high of $294.05. The business's fifty day moving average is $246.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.32. 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 firm has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a PE ratio of 63.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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. Analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from MKS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.88%.

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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