LSV Asset Management Takes Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 31,492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,032,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in MKS in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 560.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 74.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in MKS in the third quarter valued at $37,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho set a $320.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.77.

MKS Stock Up 4.2%

MKSI stock opened at $334.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 69.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $270.65 and its 200 day moving average is $221.35. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $80.22 and a one year high of $334.80.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.92%.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $2,779,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315.48. The trade was a 99.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total transaction of $1,393,338.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,817,513.66. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,123 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,743 in the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.