Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 9,929 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 58.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,058 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 9,929 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in MKS during the 4th quarter worth $764,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the 4th quarter valued at $3,618,000. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP bought a new position in shares of MKS in the 4th quarter worth $27,965,000. Blue Grotto Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 211,848 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,220,000 after purchasing an additional 24,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth $3,764,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI opened at $416.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $325.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.89. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.49 and a 52-week high of $421.58. 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 has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 87.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.99.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKSI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total transaction of $767,269.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $630.46. This represents a 99.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $3,154,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,696 shares in the company, valued at $45,648,694.08. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.