Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires New Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 53,200 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,663,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in MKS by 616.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MKS in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key MKS News

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised multiple earnings estimates. Zacks increased its Q3 2026 EPS forecast to $3.60 from $3.22 and its FY2026 estimate to $12.76 from $11.86. Estimates were also raised for FY2027 to $16.52 from $15.00 and FY2028 to $20.10 from $18.24. Several quarterly forecasts through 2028 were increased as well, signaling stronger expected earnings momentum. Earnings Estimates Moving Higher for MKS
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street price targets imply substantial potential upside. The average analyst target cited by Zacks indicates 49.8% potential appreciation, although the article cautions that price targets are not always reliable. The favorable earnings-revision trend could support the stock if it translates into stronger results. Wall Street Analysts Think MKS Could Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho lowered its MKS price target to $330. The target reduction is a negative signal, but the revised target remains well above the level at which the stock recently traded. Mizuho Lowers MKS Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: The CEO sold company shares. CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee reportedly sold 10,000 shares for approximately $3 million. Insider selling can raise concerns about management’s view of near-term valuation or performance, even though it does not necessarily indicate a change in business fundamentals. MKS CEO Sells Shares

Insider Activity at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP John Edward Williams sold 457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total transaction of $131,757.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,181,494.38. This represents a 10.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,891 shares of company stock worth $3,919,127. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKSI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MKS currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $382.86.

MKS Stock Down 5.6%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $255.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.79, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $330.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.54. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.50 and a 12-month high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.95%.

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.