MKS Inc. $MKSI Stake Lifted by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 57.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in MKS were worth $2,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in MKS during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in MKS by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in MKS during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in MKS by 1,734.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 422 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total value of $1,393,338.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 49,439 shares in the company, valued at $15,817,513.66. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total value of $2,539,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,163,117.49. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,258 shares of company stock valued at $19,128,024. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.23.

MKS Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $313.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $21.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.77. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.22 and a fifty-two week high of $326.83.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

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.