QRG Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 44.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,998 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 3,258 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MKS were worth $495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,434,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in MKS by 63.9% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 952 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in MKS in the second quarter valued at about $991,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in MKS by 55.8% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 975 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 112.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,529 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MKSI shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $180.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $187.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.75.

More MKS News

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages boosted ratings and price targets (buy/overweight calls and higher targets), increasing investor demand — notable raises include Cantor Fitzgerald to $300, Needham to $260, Morgan Stanley to $258, Bank of America to $255 and TD Cowen to $230. These upgrades are the primary catalyst for buying interest today. Cantor Fitzgerald Boosts MKS Price Target Needham raise Additional coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Shares reached new highs intraday / 52?week/all?time highs following the analyst activity and optimism around upcoming results — momentum itself can attract more buyers and short?covering. Investing.com all?time high 52?week high after upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: MKS updated Q4 guidance: revenue guidance came in above consensus (roughly ~$1.0B vs. ~$994M est.), while EPS guidance was effectively in line or marginally below consensus — mixed fundamentals that support revenue momentum but leave EPS visibility somewhat uncertain. Seeking Alpha: guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: MKS plans meetings with existing and prospective lenders about a comprehensive capital?structure refinancing — could reduce financing costs or extend maturities (positive long term) but also signals elevated leverage attention in the near term. TipRanks: refinancing
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $210 but kept an “equal weight” rating, implying limited upside from current levels and offering a more cautious stance than other brokers — this could cap some of the rally if investors favor that view. TickerReport / Wells Fargo Benzinga note

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,011,514.03. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MKS Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $223.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.81. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $54.84 and a one year high of $233.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $167.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.41. The company has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.13, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.92.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. MKS had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 7.25%.The business had revenue of $988.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $963.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 21.36%.

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.