MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Sells $322,575.00 in Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Peter Cannone III sold 1,250 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.06, for a total transaction of $322,575.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,157,897.72. This trade represents a 13.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

MKS Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $255.91 on Thursday. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.84 and a 1-year high of $269.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a PE ratio of 58.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.68.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.88%.

Key Stories Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages have pushed price targets higher and reiterated buy/overweight views, which supports upside expectations for MKSI. Price Target Raises
• Positive Sentiment: MKS increased its quarterly dividend to $0.25 (from $0.22), signaling confidence in cash flow and returning more capital to shareholders. Dividend & Stock Data
• Positive Sentiment: CEO John T.C. Lee will speak at Morgan Stanley’s Technology/Media/Telecom conference (March 2) — a visibility event that could provide fresh color on demand, margins and the roadmap. Conference Participation
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 was mixed: revenue grew ~10.5% and slightly beat consensus, but EPS missed by ~$0.04 and Q1 EPS guidance (1.720–2.280) leaves room for interpretation on near?term margins. This supports the growth story but may already be priced in. Earnings Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling reported Feb. 20–24: CEO and several executives/directors sold tens of thousands of shares (CEO sales alone roughly $7–8M), reducing some officers’ holdings materially — a near?term negative that can pressure sentiment. CEO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares (~$2.5M–$2.54M across filings), part of the broader wave of open?market disposals that traders are watching. Colella Sale

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on MKSI shares. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $320.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.46.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of MKS by 43.4% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 295,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,631,000 after purchasing an additional 89,502 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,020,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in MKS by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its holdings in MKS by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 304,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,729,000 after buying an additional 6,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in MKS by 553.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 7,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 6,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.