Neuberger Berman Group LLC Has $202.34 Million Stock Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Neuberger Berman Group LLC lowered its stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 13.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,634,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 253,825 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $202,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in MKS during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total transaction of $2,539,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,017 shares in the company, valued at $10,163,117.49. This represents a 19.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.44, for a total transaction of $71,832.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,468,668.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 63,595 shares of company stock valued at $16,208,082. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MKS Stock Down 8.9%

MKSI opened at $210.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 48.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $269.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $220.98 and a 200-day moving average of $165.72.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKSI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.46.

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.