Gabelli Funds LLC Purchases 7,940 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,326 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,940 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.07% of MKS worth $4,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in MKS by 5.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,373 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $281,758,000 after buying an additional 173,945 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of MKS by 41.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,250,085 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $260,494,000 after purchasing an additional 958,607 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 2.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,258,108 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $125,025,000 after purchasing an additional 35,065 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of MKS by 18.1% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,227,185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $121,933,000 after purchasing an additional 188,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in MKS by 79.3% in the second quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 991,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $98,495,000 after purchasing an additional 438,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MKSI. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of MKS from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Benchmark increased their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on MKS from $122.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MKS from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.64.

MKS Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $165.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.10 billion, a PE ratio of 40.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.84 and a 1-year high of $167.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $144.79 and a 200-day moving average of $117.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. MKS had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 7.25%.The business had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $963.87 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.36%.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,024,230. This represents a 24.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $734,285 in the last three months. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MKS Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc provides foundational technology solutions to semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications in the United States, Germany, China, South Korea, and internationally. It operates through Vacuum Solutions Division (VSD), Photonics Solutions Division (PSD), and Material Solutions Division (MSD) segments.