MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Bought by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 43.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 5,259 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in MKS were worth $2,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in MKS by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MKS by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,057 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 74.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 533 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,254 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,063,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,448,500. This trade represents a 7.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total transaction of $2,539,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,017 shares in the company, valued at $10,163,117.49. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Up 6.9%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $283.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $246.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.32. The company has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.90. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.51 and a 12 month high of $294.05.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is 22.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of MKS from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.77.

MKS 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.