Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys Shares of 9,732 MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd opened a new position in MKS Inc. during the first quarter, buying 9,732 shares valued at about $2.24 million.
• Insider selling continued, with EVP David Philip Henry and EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke selling shares in recent transactions; insiders sold 53,949 shares worth about $17.45 million over the last 90 days.
• MKS reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts remain mostly bullish with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $380.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,732 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $2,237,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 4th quarter worth about $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in MKS in the 4th quarter valued at about $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in MKS by 159.7% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $134,196,000 after buying an additional 516,409 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 9,165.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $55,232,000 after buying an additional 441,432 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 63.4% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $87,249,000 after buying an additional 340,645 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total transaction of $826,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at $5,400,700.50. This represents a 13.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total value of $1,393,338.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,439 shares in the company, valued at $15,817,513.66. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $349.39 on Thursday. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.49 and a fifty-two week high of $447.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $339.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. The firm'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. Equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MKSI. Mizuho set a $415.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.00.

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.

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