3,714 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in MKS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in MKS during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $249.65 on Friday. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $98.81 and a one year high of $447.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $318.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.73. The stock has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.98.

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

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 15.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Williams sold 457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total value of $131,757.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,181,494.38. This represents a 10.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. The trade was 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. Insiders sold 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,227,146 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MKSI shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.86.

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.