MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells $446,586.00 in Stock

Key Points

• MKS Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 1,400 shares on May 13 for about $446,586, leaving her with 9,775 shares after the transaction.
• MKS reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.30 versus the $2.00 estimate and revenue of $1.08 billion, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, payable June 12, and analysts remain generally bullish with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) Director Jacqueline Moloney sold 1,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.99, for a total value of $446,586.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,118,127.25. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI traded down $7.97 during trading on Thursday, reaching $309.35. The company had a trading volume of 369,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,399,651. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.98. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $254.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.56. 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 fifty-two week low of $80.22 and a fifty-two week high of $326.83.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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 predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the 4th quarter worth about $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of MKS by 159.7% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $134,196,000 after purchasing an additional 516,409 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 9,165.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $55,232,000 after purchasing an additional 441,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $87,249,000 after purchasing an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MKSI shares. Wall Street Zen raised MKS from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.23.

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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