John Edward Williams Sells 457 Shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock

Key Points

• MKS EVP John Edward Williams sold 457 shares at an average price of $288.31, generating $131,757.67. The transaction, conducted under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, reduced his direct holdings by 10.03% to 4,098 shares.
• MKS shares rose 5.4% to $326.75, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $2.30 and revenue of $1.08 billion, exceeding analyst estimates. Revenue increased 15.2% year over year.
• Wall Street maintains a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $383.57; MKS also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25, equivalent to a 0.3% annual yield.

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) EVP John Edward Williams sold 457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total value of $131,757.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,181,494.38. The trade was a 10.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

MKS Stock Up 5.4%

MKSI stock traded up $16.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $326.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,269,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,384,423. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $349.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.70. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.49 and a 12 month high of $447.62. The company has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 68.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. MKS's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in MKS by 616.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in MKS in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MKSI shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $383.57.

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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